Friendship Networks Research Articles

Working from home and mental well-being at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper analyses the relationship between working from home (WFH) and mental well-being at different stages during the first two critical years of the COVID-19 pandemic, when governments repeatedly imposed lockdowns and enacted WFH mandates to contain the spread of the virus. Using data from a representative survey conducted at four different time periods in 2020 (first lockdown, subsequent gradual reopening), 2021 (further lockdown) and 2022 (restrictions widely lifted) in the 27 EU member states, it examines the changing role of several mediators over time: work-family conflict, family-work conflict, stability, resilience, isolation, the importance of different support networks, workload, physical risk of contracting COVID-19 at work and housing conditions. For the first lockdown, it also differentiates by previous WFH experience, in terms of WFH novices and experienced WFH workers. It likewise differentiates by gender, in order to take the potential gendered nature of COVID-19 measures into account. The results point to several important mediators: for those who work from home, less family-work conflict and isolation, but greater stability, resilience, network support from family and friends, and superior housing conditions were associated with better mental well-being. The relevance of mediators was specific to certain stages of the pandemic. Stability was the most important mediator during the first lockdown. Work-family conflict and family-work conflict were only relevant during the first lockdown, while resilience and isolation mattered especially towards the end of the pandemic. Unlike established WFH workers, WFH novices had an advantage during the first lockdown, benefiting from lower family-work conflict and more helpful networks of family and friends. Our results differ by gender: for females who undertook WFH, important mediators were work-family conflict and family-work conflict. Both were related to adjustments they had to make in work and non-work hours in response to the enforced closure of schools and childcare facilities. For males who undertook WFH, support from networks of family and friends was an important mediator during the first lockdown.

Conscious selection: Critical consciousness informs cultivation of social networks in a living and learning community

AbstractIncreased popular discourse about societal inequities highlights the importance of critical consciousness (CC) as a developmental competency for youth. Peer dialogue has been implicit to theories of CC, but we know little about how critical reflection, action, and sociopolitical efficacy inform interpersonal mechanisms through which social networks are selected in developmentally salient contexts. We used social network analysis methods to explore the role of CC components in how late adolescents cultivated their peer affiliation and friendship networks within a specific context of a college living and learning community. Participants (n = 37; 67.6% female; Mage = 18.18 years, 56.81% White) nominated individuals with whom they have positive interactions (437 nominations at wave 1) and friendships (157 nominations at wave 1) at two waves. At wave 1, participants reported on their CC components, frequency of daily inequities, and sociodemographic information. Stochastic actor‐oriented models were used to model how CC at wave 1 predicted how youth selected peer affiliations and friendships. Sociopolitical efficacy was positively associated with popularity in the affiliation network and activity in the friendship network. Critical action was negatively associated with both popularity and activity in the affiliation network and activity in the friendship network. These results provide new insights into how CC informs the ways young people cultivate their social networks in developmentally salient settings. This work highlights the need to better understand the relational implications of CC.

Transactive Memory in Caregiver Networks Using Artificial Intelligence

As the population ages and an increasing number of adults want to age in place in their homes, they will rely on a network of family, friends, and other caregivers to provide various forms of assistance. Coordination across this loosely connected network is a common challenge, requiring information sharing, schedule alignment and task coordination. Here, we propose that artificial intelligence (AI) may be used to develop tools to help loosely connected care networks develop better collective cognition. Specifically, we focus on helping members of care networks develop a transactive memory system, or a shared system for storing and retrieving knowledge that expands the capacity of a group to effectively use information. In this paper, we describe the motivation for our study, and our planned research program based on the use of an online experimental platform facilitating human-AI collaboration to develop and test tools to enhance collective cognition in care networks.

How do personality traits affect the formation of friendship and preference-for-collaboration networks?

Intuitively, personality traits may shape friendships differently from academic connections, potentially influencing social support development. Yet, this remains understudied, while it is crucial for student’s wellbeing. Therefore, this study investigates how the personality traits of the Five-Factor Model interact with the role friendships and preferred collaboration relationships. In a sample of 95 university students, socio-centric data were collected with questionnaires on personality traits and longitudinally on networks of friendship and preferences for collaboration networks. Utilizing stochastic actor-oriented models in RSiena, we showed that students more open to new experiences established more friendships, preferred more collaborations with their peers, and were also more popular in both networks than students less open-to-new-experiences. Students scoring higher on agreeableness were less likely to connect to their peers in both networks, whereas higher-achieving students were more likely to establish peer relationships in both networks. Furthermore, friends were preferred for collaboration (and vice versa), indicating an overlap. This study points to the importance of personality traits and achievement when students integrate into their social and academic environment.

Social embeddedness and organisational justice in a UK police force

Purpose The purpose of this study is to describe police officers’ workplace social networks and to examine how police officers’ social ties, in combination with organisational climate, affect their attitudes towards and willingness to report misconduct.Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered from a vignette survey of 86 response police officers in an English county police force. Officers’ attitudes towards misconduct and likelihood of reporting were analysed using multivariable regression models.Findings Descriptively, most officers have a small social network within the force, and police comprise about one-third of their total social networks. Officers were generally highly disapproving of misconduct and expressed they would challenge their peers in most scenarios, though reporting misconduct was somewhat less likely. Perceived peer disapproval of misconduct is a strong predictor of officers’ disapproval of misconduct and expressed likelihood of reporting misconduct. Organisational justice and social embeddedness were not usually associated with the challenging and reporting of misconduct.Originality/value This study is one of only a handful to report information on police officers’ friendship networks in the workplace, and these results show that peer influence remains an important vector for police management to use in promoting prosocial police culture and preventing misconduct.

The Dominance of Liking: Uncovering Dyadic and Reputational Effects of Peer and Perceived Teacher Likes and Dislikes on Friendship Dynamics Among Chinese Adolescents.

While previous research suggests that peer and teacher preferences are linked to adolescents' peer relationships, the specific impact of peer and teacher (dis)liking on adolescents' friendship networks is not fully understood. This study used longitudinal social network analysis to examine how peer (dis)liking and perceptions of teacher (dis)liking predicted friendship selection among Chinese adolescents. Questionnaires were administered to a sample of 2566 students (48.3% boys, Mage = 13.94, SDage = 0.60 at Time 1) in central China in 2015 and 2016. Results for peer (dis)liking revealed that Chinese students tended to befriend peers they liked (dyadic perception), to befriend peers widely liked (reputational perception), and to avoid peers widely disliked (reputational perception). Regarding teacher (dis)liking, Chinese students tended to befriend peers they believed their teachers liked (dyadic perception) and avoid those widely perceived as liked by teachers (reputational perception). Interestingly, students who were widely perceived as liked by teachers tended to befriend peers whom they believed teachers disliked. Perceived teacher disliking had a limited effect on friendship selection at both the dyadic and reputational levels. These findings suggest that peer liking and perceived teacher liking relate to friendship formation among Chinese adolescents, but that a reputation as a teachers' pet may hinder their friendships.

Peer non-cognitive self-perception and school performance: estimates using the student friendship network at classroom level

This article investigates whether the individual academic performance is affected by peers’ self-perception about own personality and being valued in the classroom. The empirical estimations use a unique educational dataset that comes from a research institute of the Brazilian Ministry of Education (Fundação Joaquim Nabuco – FUNDAJ/ MEC, 2013), which provides crucial information for the proposed identification strategies. These strategies are based on: (i) the architecture of friendships network composed of heterogeneous reference groups within the classroom, (ii) the use of longitudinal evaluation of scholastic achievement, where all the students surveyed are submitted to a math test in the beginning and at the end of scholar year and (iii) the control of the network fixed effects. The results show students perform better when their friends demonstrate a positive self-perception of own personality and do not feel left behind in the classroom. Furthermore, when omitted variable bias is controlled for, the impact of peers’ socio emotional skills on individual achievement is even stronger.

Exploring risk and resilience in school environments for students in kinship care

ABSTRACT Kinship care is provided by members of a child’s extended family or friend network when they can no longer live with their parents. This study explores risk and resilience in UK school environments for students in kinship care. Eight professionals experienced in working with students in kinship care and their schools took part in individual, semi-structured interviews. Interviews focussed on kinship students’ needs and how professionals perceive schools respond to those needs. Reflexive thematic analysis generated over-arching themes indicating that: children in kinship care have multiple needs and are looked after by kinship carers who find themselves “between a rock and a hard place”; in some schools kinship care is “under the radar”; other schools respond to kinship families with the attitude of “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”; and in some schools kinship care is “on the agenda”. A model is presented that integrates risk and protective factors within schools, generated from this study, with risk and protective factors for kinship students within families, identified by previous literature. Implications for educational psychology (EP) practice are presented, and further research needs discussed.

Jewish-Muslim Friendship Networks: A Study of Intergenerational Boundary Work in Postwar Germany

Abstract This article presents a little-known story of Jewish-Muslim coexistence in Germany after World War Two. Using an ethnographic case study of Frankfurt am Main’s train-station district (Bahnhofsviertel), the analysis investigates long-term and partially forgotten Jewish-Muslim narratives, relations, and neighborhood encounters, paying particular attention to the changing political, spatial, and temporal dimensions that have blurred or closed symbolic boundaries between Jews and Muslims since the late 1960s. Bringing together the scholarship on symbolic boundaries and urban diversity, the theoretical discussion contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the variegated processes of Jewish-Muslim boundary-making and un-making over time, as well as the macro- and micro-level influences which shape these negotiations and outcomes. Studying Jewish-Muslim relations at the neighborhood level by adopting a boundary-related approach brings out more clearly the tensions over groupism and fluidity in theoretical debates and removes the current exceptionalism around Jewish-Muslim themes, making them more easily compared with other boundary processes within everyday life.

“See me for who I am”: An exploratory study of undergraduate music major belonging

The purpose of this exploratory instrumental qualitative case study with nested mixed methods was to examine undergraduate music majors’ perceptions of their sense of belonging within one public university music program. We surveyed undergraduate music majors within a single music program and completed purposeful and targeted follow-up interviews of selected respondents who represented a diverse cross-section of the student body. Quantitative analysis included descriptive demographic statistics and linear multiple regression with belonging as the dependent factor. There was a statistically significant relationship between faculty interactions and student sense of belonging ( p < .001). Qualitative findings suggested that student–faculty interactions were a primary contributor to a student’s sense of belonging, as well as the importance of a network of friends and the overall school culture. Implications of these results may assist music administration and faculty members in developing a culture of belonging within their respective studios or departments.

Habitus, capital and the shaping of sporting careers: a qualitative study of Norwegian youth

ABSTRACT Previous research has established that youngsters’ sporting repertoires become particularly malleable during the early- to mid-teenage years, shifting from formal, organized sports to more informal, recreational activities. This study investigated the processes underlying these changes, using the theoretical framework of social and cultural capital and habitus. Forty-one individual qualitative interviews, with 17–18-year-old middle-class Norwegians, were conducted in order to understand the role of family, friends, and peers in shaping sporting repertoires and careers. Through three analytical themes – ‘Shifting forms, shifting orientations’; ‘Sporting capital and family cultures of sport’; and Sporting repertoires and the growing significance of friends’ – our findings lend support to notions of family cultures as important in initiating young people’s sporting careers by building their sports-related ‘cultural capital’ and establishing sporting routines. However, our findings also indicate that such primary socialization into sport may not be enough for building the sporting repertoires necessary for lifelong engagement. The development of sporting habitus tends to be facilitated by social capital in the form of friendship networks within which friends become increasingly significant in shaping sporting repertoires. Understanding the dynamism and mutability of sporting repertoires during the youth life-stage is crucial for developing sports policies that foster lifelong sports engagement.

Robin Dunbar: The neurobiology of human sociality

Robin Dunbar is an eminent evolutionary psychologist and anthropologist whose pioneering work has permanently redefined how we think about human social relationships. Dunbar, who is an emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Oxford, became world-renowned for, among other contributions, his formulation of “Dunbar's number,” a theoretical limit to the number of stable social relationships an individual can maintain, typically cited as about 150. That idea, which he developed as he studied the relationship between brain size and social group size in various primate species, has since had broad influences across areas from social media design to organizational management. Over time, Dunbar's number has become more widely known and discussed, particularly with the advent of social media and online social networks. This has led to renewed interest in its implications for digital social interactions. Dunbar's illustrious career spans multiple prestigious institutions, including, prior to joining Oxford in 2007, the University of Cambridge, the University of Stockholm (Sweden), University College London and the University of Liverpool. He is a fellow of the British Academy and the Royal Anthropological Institute, a Foreign Member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, and an elected Honorary Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His interdisciplinary expertise is reflected in his professorships in psychology, evolutionary biology, and anthropology at institutions such as Liverpool and Oxford Universities. He has held a visiting chair in statistical physics and computer science at Aalto University, Finland, which has also awarded him an honorary doctorate. Dunbar studies the evolution of social processes in primates and humans, with work that blends neurobiology, cognitive science, and the social dynamics of how we communicate via friendship networks. His insights into friendships and community cohesion continue to shape our understanding of human social behaviour in the digital age. It is an absolute pleasure that Professor Dunbar answered the Genomic Press Interview as we celebrate the extraordinary story of his scientific odyssey with our readers.

Structure matters: Assessing the statistical significance of network topologies.

Network analysis has found widespread utility in many research areas. However, assessing the statistical significance of observed relationships within networks remains a complex challenge. Traditional node permutation tests are often insufficient in capturing the effect of changing network topology by creating reliable null distributions. We propose two randomization alternatives to address this gap: random rewiring and controlled rewiring. These methods incorporate changes in the network topology through edge swaps. However, controlled rewiring allows for more nuanced alterations of the original network than random rewiring. In this sense, this paper introduces a novel evaluation tool, the Expanded Quadratic Assignment Procedure (EQAP), designed to calculate a specific p-value and interpret statistical tests with enhanced precision. The combination of EQAP and controlled rewiring provides a robust network comparison and statistical analysis framework. The methodology is exemplified through two real-world examples: the analysis of an organizational network structure, illustrated by the Enron-Email dataset, and a social network case, represented by the UK Faculty friendship network. The utility of these statistical tests is underscored by their capacity to safeguard researchers against Type I errors when exploring network metrics dependent on intricate topologies.

THE VIRTUE OF DIVERSITY: PERCEPTIONS FROM THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA OF YOUNG PEOPLE INVOLVED IN CIVIL SOCIETY REGARDING SELF-IDENTIFICATION AND THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL ACTORS IN THE CONTEXT OF EU ACCESSION

The military aggression of Russia against Ukraine has provoked collective anxiety within the population of the Republic of Moldova around a potential targeting of the country, while increasing collective efficacy and nationhood. The article explores the construction of identity among young Moldovans in civil society, particularly in the context of EU accession. Moldova, as a multiethnic state, has been grappling with identity disputes since its first multiparty elections in 1994. The authors investigate ethnic identification and positioning towards international actors, aiming to understand how internal and external loyalties overlap and can emerge in building a new civic identity beyond the post-Soviet legacy. The study shows a revaluation of ethnic components and the connection with geopolitics. Before the Ukrainian war, the prolonged economic and political crises in the country, as well as the great power politics, had prompted the younger generations to be disconnected from the political, economic, and social aspects of public life. As such, they maintain a sense of social integration within their familial and friendship networks, which contributes to their sense of belonging within Moldovan society. The article examines the connection between self-identification and the geopolitical structures within the Republic of Moldova. The empirical part of the research involves 18 semi-structured interviews with Moldovan youth involved in civil society organizations, focusing on patterns of self-identification, including Pan-Romanianism, Moldovianism, Transnistrian ideology, and Gagauzian regional identity. The study also highlights the importance of pluralistic identification in which economic development is crucial in building up a consistent identification narrative.

Associations between physical activity, screen time, and friends’ social network in a sample of Greek-Cypriot primary school children

PurposeThis study aimed to examine: (1) associations between children’s physical activity, screen time, and their friends’ respective behaviours, and (2) whether a child’s popularity is associated with his/her physical activity and screen time.MethodsParticipants included 136 children (37.5% boys and 62.5% girls) with a mean age of 11.8 years. Children wore a pedometer for four weekdays to assess physical activity and completed a diary relating to the time spent in three screen time activities. They also nominated three friends for school and out-of-school hours.ResultsBivariate associations between school physical activity and friends’ physical activity ranged from <i>r</i> = 0.27 (<i>p</i> < 0.05) to <i>r</i> = 0.47 (<i>p</i> < 0.05) and for the whole day from <i>r</i> = 0.27 (<i>p</i> < 0.05) to <i>r</i> = 0.40 (<i>p</i> < 0.001). At the multivariate level, boys’ and girls’ physical activity was associated with the physical activity of their best friend, explaining 42% and 11%, respectively, of the variance for school, and 11% and 9% of the variance, respectively, for whole day physical activity. In the boys’ analyses, time per day playing electronic games was associated with the child’s popularity, explaining 42% of the variance.ConclusionsChildren’s physical activity is associated with the physical activity of their best friends, while among boys, time playing electronic games is associated with their popularity. Targeting children’s friendship networks may help promote physical activity for both boys and girls and may help reduce time spent on electronic games among boys.

Crowdfunding care in Kenya

ABSTRACT Crowdfunding to support personal and medical needs has risen in popularity in recent years. Many sociologists are critical of needy individuals’ turn to online fundraising, seeing it as a response to deficits in health care and social protection, and arguing that it may widen social inequalities. Most of these studies have taken place in the United States, China, and Great Britain. This paper explores crowdfunding in sub-Saharan Africa, offering us an opportunity to rethink the context and value of crowdfunding and its relationship to family and friend networks, philanthropy, and charity. It also examines how online crowdfunding relates to cultural ideas about dependency and care. Based on my ethnographic fieldwork at the Nairobi crowdfunding platform M-Changa conducted from 2016 to 2021, I describe how social entrepreneurs, women, and NGO representatives raise money for philanthropic initiatives, medical and education costs, family rituals, and COVID-19 relief. The paper reveals the diverse financial relationships, identities and goals emerging on the platform. Reflecting on this diversity of caring finance, this paper then explores the ambiguous commercial, social, and political potentials of crowdfunding as peer-based digital finance in the Global South.

Association between Internet use and depression among older adults in China: the chain-mediating role of volunteer activity participation and friend network.

Depression is a significant burden on individuals and society, which requires our attention and action. As the aging wave collides with digitalization, further research is needed to understand how internet use relates to depression in older adults. This study aimed to investigate whether volunteer activity participation and friend networks played a chain mediating role in this relationship from the perspective of the socioemotional selectivity theory. This study's data was derived from the 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS), comprising 5,558 samples. The study employed the OLS model for benchmark regression and multiple robust check methods, including altering variable settings and utilizing the instrumental variable model. In addition, the generalized structural equation model (GSEM) was used to analyze the mechanism. Using the internet was significantly associated with reduced depression in older adults (coefficient = -0.9321, p < 0.001). The instrumental variable model confirmed this reduction (coefficient = -0.9200, p < 0.001). Moreover, we found that there were three indirect pathways of Internet use on depression among older adults: the mediating role of volunteer activity participation (all p-values <0.001), the mediating role of friend network (all p-values <0.001), and the chain mediating role of both factors (all p-values <0.001). Based on the research findings, we suggest mobilizing tech-savvy older adults to assist others in adopting digital technology and using the internet. We also suggest that the government could assist in creating older adult-friendly communities. Social workers could collaborate with tech-savvy older adults to organize various voluntary activities, encouraging more senior citizens to participate. In addition, we recommend that the community should consider the form of activities to help older adults make friends first rather than solely focusing on voluntary activities.

Mapping the Landscape of Those Left Behind When a Person With Dementia Dies: Roles of Race and Ethnicity.

People with dementia can have many family and friends who might be affected by their deaths. Pursuing the long-term aim of understanding how dementia deaths affect close family and friends, this project lays groundwork through estimates of who those close family and friends are, with special attention to race and ethnicity. Regression models estimated associations between dementia, race/ethnicity, and close family and friend network size, controlling for age, sex, education, marital status, and household wealth for 1386 deceased people with dementia from the Health and Retirement Study (2004 to 2018). Persons with dementia had an average of 9.4 close family and friends at death. But patterns of close family and friends were different among non-Latino Black (10.8), Latino (9.9), and non-Latino White (9.2) people with dementia at death. Notably, non-Latino White persons with dementia had the fewest close family (3.7), followed by non-Latino Black (5.1), and Latino (7.7) persons with dementia. Knowing who might be affected by dementia deaths is the first step to explore how dementia-related deaths impact close family and friends. Future work can now sample bereaved family and friends of people with dementia to explore their experiences and develop culturally appropriate supports.

How Do Virtual Communities of Practice Enhance Professional Connections and Social Capital?

Communities of Practice (CoP) were created to up-skill educators and to mitigate the disruption to physical therapist assistant (PTA) education because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding CoP involves considering individuals and their interactions, making this project significant for pioneering CoP among PTA educators, and using social network analysis (SNA). The research question for this mixed-methods concurrent triangulation study was "To what extent did the network structure of virtual CoP reflect PTA educators' perceptions of participation and mentorship?" Forty of 60 CoP members participated in this study. We analyzed 8 virtual PTA educator CoP that met over 4 months. Study participants completed a questionnaire about their experiences, engagement, and network connections. Individual and group-level friendship and mentorship network measures were studied using SNA. Qualitative responses were analyzed using the case study design approach. All results were integrated to draw out the complexity of the PTA educator CoP. There was high engagement, with 97.5% (n = 39) reporting they would participate again, and 80% (n = 32) resolved an immediate issue affecting their role. Moreover, 92.5% (n = 37) reported a perception of encouragement with the environment. Study participants reported being mentored by an average of 1.2 individuals (median 0, range 0-5) and serving as mentors to an average of 1.4 individuals (median 0, range 0-7). Two themes, unity and knowledge, emerged through the qualitative analysis. Participation by PTA educators in CoP, whether focused on administration, teaching methods, or clinical education, brings valuable outcomes. Our research supports existing literature in physical therapy education. We discovered that participant engagement, nurturing mentor relationships, encouraging knowledge sharing, and promoting a sense of unity among educators are all important factors.

Gender segregation in the friendship networks of Muslim youth in Germany: the role of chastity norms

ABSTRACT Western Muslim youth engage less in romantic relationships than their non-Muslim peers, an observation usually attributed to chastity norms that oppose Muslim youths’ premarital sexual activity. In this study, I ask whether chastity norms also shape cross-gender interaction beyond romantic relationships and lead to fewer cross-gender friendships among Muslim than non-Muslim youth. To isolate the consequences of chastity norms from institutionalized practices of gender segregation in Muslim religious communities, I study friendship-making in German coeducational schools, which provide ample opportunities for cross-gender friendships. I apply multilevel exponential random graph models to large-scale data on adolescents’ school-based friendship networks, finding cross-gender friendships to be generally infrequent but notably rarer among Muslim than non-Muslim youth. However, this lack of cross-gender friendships is limited to Muslim youth who hold strong chastity norms, while more liberal Muslim youth have as many cross-gender friends as non-Muslims. Among non-Muslims, chastity norms are unrelated to cross-gender friendships.