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Contrary to a widely held belief, a strong positive association between individualism and social capital can be observed at the cross-national level of analysis (Realo and Allik, 2009). The present study examines the relationship between social capital and individualism-collectivism at the individual level using nationally representative sample of adults from The Estonian Survey of Culture and Personality (#=1,451). Results suggest that only one component of individualism-mature self-responsibility -but also peer-and society-related forms of collectivism, exhibited positive associations with social capital. Thus, although the positive relationship between individualism and social capital seems to hold in some respects at the individual level, the relationship between social capital and different components of individualism-collectivism appears rather multi-faceted.

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between social capital and individualism-collectivism in a sample of 50,417 individuals from 29 European countries using data from the European Social Survey Round 6 (2012). Social capital was measured in terms of generalized social trust and informal social networks; individualism-collectivism was operationalized via Schwartz's Openness to Change-Conservation value dimension.Results from a hierarchical linear modeling analysis showed that less than 10 per cent of variance in social capital indicators was found between countries, meaning that the level of social capital varies more substantively between individuals than between the countries.Openness to Change had a weak but statistically significant and positive relationship both with the indices of Generalized Social Trust and Informal Social Networks, which remained significant even when individual age, gender, education level, and domicile were controlled for. In sum, our findings show that the positive relationship between social capital and individualism that has been found at the cultural level also holds at the individual level:people who emphasize independent thought, action, and readiness to change are also more willing to believe that most people can be trusted and are more engaged in informal social networks. The relationship is, nevertheless, very weak and the strength of the association varies significantly across different European countries. This variation, however, cannot be explained by country differences in level of democracy or human development and the country's wealth moderates only the individual level relationship between Openness to Change and Informal Social Networks. Our findings suggest that sources of social capital at the individual level can be found in people's immediate social surroundings, as well as their everyday social interactions.

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Youth participation and citizenship education have been widely discussed; however, there is no shared understanding on the best way for young people to acquire citizenship skills, attitudes, and knowledge. Although there is an extensive body of literature on citizenship education at school, other learning environments have received less attention. This article brings together the views of young people and youth policymakers on non-formal and informal citizenship education. The empirical analysis of the paper is based on the material collected in the framework of two large-scale European projects: MYPLACE and CATCH-EyoU. The in-depth, microlevel analysis of the viewpoint of young people is based on interviews conducted in ethnographic case studies. In addition, interviews conducted with Estonian youth policymakers were used as a source of information for the in-depth analysis of the attitudes of policymakers. The analyses draw attention to the differences in understanding between youth and policymakers and the top-down and bottom-up learning environments in youth organisations. The shortcomings of non-formal and informal learning as a form of citizenship education are outlined on the basis of different understandings of the meaning of citizenship.