Social capital strengthens emerging adults’ ability to reach life goals, but little is known about how peers and near-peers (slightly older and/or more experienced peers who serve in mentorship or coaching roles) support social capital development especially among young people of color. To address this gap, the current study examined how social capital derived from peers and near-peers contributes to emerging adults’ ability to actively mobilize social capital in pursuit of their education or career goals (i.e., self-initiated social capital) and, in turn, their education and career outcomes. A total of 841 emerging adults who participated in one of five community-based education and/or workforce support programs were surveyed (72% female; M_age = 20.1, SD = 1.84; 35% Latinx, 30% Black, 19% Asian, 16% Other). Peer social capital was indirectly associated with outcomes (i.e., progress towards education/career goals, commitment to paying-it-forward, collective efficacy to change systems) via greater self-initiated social capital, whereas near-peer social capital was both directly and indirectly associated with outcomes. The mechanisms by which peer and near-peer social capital support emerging adults as they work towards their goals may differ and have important program implications.

社会资本增强了新兴成年人实现人生目标的能力，但对于同龄人和近亲（年龄稍大和/或更有经验的同龄人担任指导或教练角色）如何支持社会资本发展，尤其是在有色人种的年轻人中，我们知之甚少. 为了解决这一差距，本研究考察了来自同龄人和近邻的社会资本如何促进新兴成年人积极动员社会资本以追求他们的教育或职业目标（即自我发起的社会资本）的能力，以及反过来，他们的教育和职业成果。共有 841 名参加了五个社区教育和/或劳动力支持计划之一的新兴成年人接受了调查（72% 为女性；M_年龄 = 20.1，SD = 1.84; 35% 拉丁裔，30% 黑人，19% 亚裔，16% 其他）。同伴社会资本通过更大的自我发起的社会资本与结果（即，实现教育/职业目标的进展、对向前支付的承诺、改变系统的集体效力）间接相关，而近同伴社会资本既直接又直接与同伴社会资本相关联。与结果间接相关。同伴和近同伴社会资本支持新兴成年人实现目标的机制可能不同，并具有重要的项目意义。