Comparing social trust among active and inactive women in South Khorasan

One of the major issues in the sociology of sport is the discussion of social trust. Considering the importance of public sport, especially for women, the aim of this study was to compare social trust among active and inactive women in South Khorasan. This research is a retrospective and a descriptive- analytical research. The study population included women aged between15 and 50 year old in South Khorasan province. 400 individuals were selected by using cluster random sampling method across the entire province, based on Morgan table (200 inactive individuals in terms of physical activity and exercising who performed no exercise and 200 active individuals who regularly exercised, at least three times a week). Saffarinia and Sharif’s social trust questionnaire (1389) was used to collect data and its validity was confirmed by a group of experts and by using confirmatory factor analysis and its reliability was confirmed through using Cronbach s alpha coefficient (α= 0.85). Independent t-test for groups and one sample t-test were used to analyze data. The results showed that in both active and inactive groups, as well as in all the subjects, levels of social trust were desirable (Sig 0.05, Test-Value=72). The mean of subscales of tendencies (t = -2.514, df = 398, Sig = 0.012) and honesty (t = -2.360, df = 398, Sig = 0.019) and also total social trust (t = -2.674, df = 398, Sig = 0.008) were significantly different among active and inactive women; so that in all the cases the values of active women were higher. On this basis, it can be stated that sports (exercise) can increase social trust among women.