Networks Of Weak Ties Research Articles

The influence of emotional tendency on the dissemination and evolution of opinions in two-layer social networks

To investigate the influence of emotional tendency on the dissemination and evolution of opinions, in this paper, we first propose a novel algorithm to construct a two-layer social networks, who is composed of a strong-tie subnet and a weak-tie subnet. Considering the weights on the strong-tie and weak-tie networks and the subjective emotional tendencies of individuals, the HK model with emotional tendency (i.e. E-HK model), the weight HK model (i.e. WHK model), and the weight HK model with emotional tendency (i.e. E-WHK model) are put forward. Finally, according to the algorithm and the E-WHK model newly presented, we use the seventh census data to construct a social network, and explore individuals' opinion evolution, as well as the influence of three factors, including the level of subjective emotional tendency, the trust radius, and the proportions of individuals with different emotional tendencies. Abundant simulations demonstrate that the E-WHK model can explain the dissemination and evolution of opinions very well. In addition, the greater the level of emotional tendency, the faster the convergence of individuals’ opinions. Increasing the trust radius will make completely positive and negative opinions decrease. Enhancing the proportion of optimists/pessimists, most individuals' ultimate opinions tend to be completely positive/negative. The results of this paper provide theoretical methods and analytical tools for managers in guiding public sentiment during public events.

Cultural diversity, social network, and off-farm employment: Evidence from China

Farmers rely increasingly on off-farm employment to enhance incomes. Previous studies have emphasized the role of social networks in securing off-farm employment, but have ignored that the formation of social networks is shaped by cultural environment. Using data from a nationally representative survey in China, this paper shows that farmers from regions with larger cultural diversity are less likely to participate in off-farm employment and obtain lower off-farm wages. The negative impact of cultural diversity comes from the reduction in job information from social networks of weak ties and is moderated by the urbanization policy of providing formal information sources.

Survey Methods for Estimating the Size of Weak-Tie Personal Networks

Researchers increasingly use aggregate relational data to learn about the size and distribution of survey respondents’ weak-tie personal networks. Aggregate relational data are collected by asking questions about respondents’ connectedness to many different groups (e.g., “How many teachers do you know?”). This approach can be powerful, but to use aggregate relational data, researchers must locate external information about the size of each group from a census or administrative records (e.g., the number of teachers in the population). This need for external information makes aggregate relational data difficult or impossible to collect in many settings. Here, the authors show that relatively simple modifications can overcome this need for external data, significantly increasing the flexibility of the method and weakening key assumptions required by the associated estimators. The key idea is to estimate the size of these groups from the sample of survey respondents, rather than relying on external sources of information. These methods are appropriate for using a sample survey to study the size and distribution of weak-tie network connections. They can also be used as part of the network scale-up method to estimate the size of hidden populations. The authors illustrate this approach with two empirical studies: a large simulation study and original household survey data collected in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Psychological antecedents of COVID-19 information sharing within strong-tie and weak-tie networks.

ObjectiveThis study investigates the psychological mechanisms underlying people’s sharing of COVID-19 information within their strong-tie networks and weak-tie networks.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey was conducted between March and April 2020 (N = 609 Chinese adults). Measures included emotions and behavioral beliefs about COVID-19 information sharing, risk perceptions, and COVID-19 information acquisition and sharing behaviors. Multiple linear regression was performed to examine the psychological predictors of COVID-19 information sharing.ResultsPeople were more likely to share COVID-19 information within their strong-tie networks when they experienced more negative emotions (β = .09, p = .01) and had stronger beliefs that information sharing would promote disease prevention (β = .12, p = .004). By comparison, negative emotions were the only significant predictor of COVID-19 information sharing (β = .12, p = .002) within weak-tie networks (β = .04, p = .31 for beliefs about sharing).ConclusionPeople may share COVID-19 information within weak-tie networks to cope with negative emotions regardless of whether they perceive information sharing as beneficial to disease prevention.InnovationHealth educators should raise people’s awareness of the psychological motivators of COVID-19 information sharing to create a healthy information environment for disease prevention.

Associations Between Psychological Conditions and Social Capital Among Chinese International Students in Japan During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study investigated the psychological conditions of Chinese international students in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the association between different forms of social capital and psychological outcomes (i.e., worries about being infected, subjective wellbeing, loneliness, and psychological coping responses). In our study, different forms of social capital refer to bonding social capital originating from host national and co-national networks, bridging social capital, and maintained social capital. A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in January 2021. Our results demonstrated that the effects of social capital on psychological conditions differed according to its form. Worries about being infected, loneliness, and negative coping had negative associations with bonding social capital originating from host national network, but no associations with bonding social capital originating from co-national network, bridging social capital, and maintained social capital. Subjective wellbeing had a positive relationship with social capital originating from host national network and bridging social capital. Positive coping was only significantly associated with bridging social capital. To help international students cope better with the pandemic, efforts are required to strengthen their host national networks and expand their weak-tie networks.

Autobiographies and Weak Ties: Saʾin al-Din Turka's Self-Narratives

As I write this essay, the forty-fourth US President Barack Obama's autobiography titled A Promised Land is the best-selling book in Germany, in both the German and the English editions. This is his second autobiographical work, following Dreams from My Father in 1995. Given Obama's prominent place in our modern political culture, this is hardly surprising, but today's publishers seem to have no specific criteria for deciding whose life and career are worthy of an autobiography. Any moderately successful individual from any walk of life can publish an autobiography today. The popularity of the genre is certainly related to the extreme glorification of individual and personal success in modern society, but it also shapes how we view premodern self-narratives: as a window into an intellectual's individuality and Bildung. This essay questions this convention and explores the opportunities that self-narratives embedded in literary and narrative sources present to historians of 15th-century Iran and Central Asia. I will argue that autobiographies and self-narratives are much more than tools for refashioning the self in the early modern period. They open a window to a much wider network of weak ties and acquaintances, a closer scrutiny of which may allow us to reconstruct transregional networks, understand the connectedness of these intellectual networks, and delineate their collective identities in the early modern period. In my discussion I will focus on a selection of 15th-century texts, most prominently the self-narratives of the Timurid intellectual Saʾin al-Dīn Turka (d. 1432).

A Novel Hybrid-Jump-Based Sampling Method for Complex Social Networks

With the rapid development of the Internet, social media is affecting and changing people’s lives. The research of network community structure based on a large number of complex network data sets is increasingly popular. Due to the large scale of existing social network data and privacy issues, it is hard to analyze the entire network data directly. Therefore, a reliable and effective network sampling method is very important for the actual estimation of online social networks attributes. Existing network sampling methods like metropolis–hasting random walk (MHRW) can obtain unbiased sample sets from relatively large-scale social networks such as Facebook and describe the key features of the original network. Moreover, MHRW uses a proposed distribution function for sampling control, which can guarantee a well-balanced nature of resulting Markov chain. However, MHRW has the defect of partial graph over entry. In this paper, we proposed a new hybrid jump (HJ) sample by introducing an HJ strategy into MHRW during the sampling progress. First, we use a breadth-first search to obtain a data set without repeated node quickly from a list of jump nodes. Moreover, we adopted uniform sample (UNI) to get the average degree of the original network. Then, a 3-D average degree distribution model is designed to determine the optimal value of the jump parameter in HJ. Finally, we set the condition to execute the HJ strategy in each step of sampling progress. The experimental results demonstrate the performance of HJ is better than the other representation sampling methods both in strong-tie networks and weak-tie networks.

Межпоколенная трансмиссия паттернов группового сплочения в разных социокультурных контекстах: на примере букварей для детей русской эмиграции и Советской России

Мария Андреевна Козлова – кандидат исторических наук, доцент, Департамент социологии, Национальный исследовательский университет «Высшая школа экономики». Адрес: 101000, Москва, ул. Мясницкая, д. 9. E-mail: makozlova@yandex.ru
 Цитирование: Козлова М.А. (2019) Межпоколенная трансмиссия паттернов группового сплочения в разных социокультурных контекстах: на примере букварей для детей русской эмиграции и Советской России // Мир России. Т. 28. № 1. С. 124–139. DOI: 10.17323/1811-038X-2019-28-1-124-139
 В статье рассматривается проблематика межпоколенной культурной трансмиссии, и, поскольку публикации последних лет вынуждают усомниться в возможности экстраполяции выводов, полученных при анализе трансмиссии ценностей и паттернов поведения в доминирующих группах на меньшинства, мы обращаемся к анализу содержания школьных учебников, выпускавшихся для детей русскоязычных эмигрантов, оказавшихся в принципиально различных социокультурных условиях. Межпоколенная трансмиссия рассматривается на основе анализа текстового и иллюстративного материала учебников для начальной ступени образования, издававшихся для русскоязычных детей в Латвии (N=2) и Польше (N=1), а также для детей Советской России (N=2) в период 1920-х гг. В учебнике, изданном для русскоязычных детей в Польше, мы фиксируем классический постфигуративный тип межпоколенной культурной трансмиссии. «Неизменность» транслируемых ценностей, иллюзия стабильности, гомогенизируя сообщество как в горизонтальном, так и в вертикальном измерениях, обеспечивают внутригрупповую сплоченность, защищая группу от культурной диффузии и ассимиляции. Поддерживает и усиливает эту стратегию сплочения репрезентация в польских учебниках внешней среды как враждебной. Анализ контента букварей, изданных в Советской России, позволяет говорить о реконструировании постфигуративного типа межпоколенной культурной трансмиссии. При фактическом разрыве культурной преемственности здесь применяется стратегия экстраполяции внутрисемейной модели на общество в целом. Это позволяет нормализировать происходящие социальные трансформации и легитимирует установившуюся социальную иерархию. Модель межпоколенной трансмиссии в проанализированных латвийских эмигрантских букварях, напротив, основана на побуждении ребенка к самостоятельной выработке ценностей и ориентиров, апробированию поведенческих практик с использованием рекомендованных взрослым сообществом средств – знаний и образования. Таким образом, латвийские буквари «позволяют» ребенку включиться в сеть «слабых» связей, тем самым снижая внутригрупповую сплоченность эмигрантского сообщества, но готовя ребенка к интеграции в доминирующую культуру.

The impact of mobile communication uses on civic engagement: moderating effects of exposure to politically diverse and weak-tie networks

Based on a nationally representative survey (N = 1,540) of mobile phone users, this study investigates how diverse types of mobile phone use relate to exposure to different political and social views (i.e., crosscutting exposure), attributes of people's discussion network (i.e., weak-tie contacts), and civic engagement. Results indicate that using mobile phones for informational and expressive purposes is closely linked to exposure to diverse viewpoints through mobile communication and engagement in civic affairs. Recreational use of the mobile phone has a statistically significant link to crosscutting exposure. Further, both crosscutting exposure and weak-tie contacts moderate the association between mobile phone use for informational and recreational purposes and civic engagement. In a three-way interaction, crosscutting exposure and weak-tie contacts moderate the relationship between informational mobile phone use and civic engagement.

The Impact of Mobile Communication Uses on Civic Engagement: Moderating Effects of Exposure to Politically Diverse and Weak-Tie Networks

Based on a nationally representative survey (N = 1,540) of mobile phone users, this study investigates how diverse types of mobile phone use relate to exposure to different political and social views (i.e., crosscutting exposure), attributes of people's discussion network (i.e., weak-tie contacts), and civic engagement. Results indicate that using mobile phones for informational and expressive purposes is closely linked to exposure to diverse viewpoints through mobile communication and engagement in civic affairs. Recreational use of the mobile phone has a statistically significant link to crosscutting exposure. Further, both crosscutting exposure and weak-tie contacts moderate the association between mobile phone use for informational and recreational purposes and civic engagement. In a three-way interaction, crosscutting exposure and weak-tie contacts moderate the relationship between informational mobile phone use and civic engagement.

Ties, Likes, and Tweets: Using Strong and Weak Ties to Explain Differences in Protest Participation Across Facebook and Twitter Use

Based on the theoretical concepts of social networks and technology affordances, this article argues that different social media platforms influence political participation through unique, yet complementary, routes. More specifically, it proposes that Facebook and Twitter are conducive to protest behavior through two distinct mechanisms: whereas the influence of Facebook use is more effective through communication with strong-tie networks, the impact of Twitter use is more effective through communication with weak-tie networks. To test these expectations, we analyze data from a cross-sectional, face-to-face survey on a representative sample of Chilean youths conducted in 2014. Findings in the study lend empirical support for these hypotheses. Consequently, while different social media (in this case, Facebook and Twitter) are similar in their participatory effects, the paths through which this influence occurs are distinct, a finding that highlights the importance of studying political behavior across different media platforms.

When are frugal consumers not frugal? The influence of personal networks

Retailers have always looked for ways to increase the spending habits of frugal consumers. However, there exists a long-standing notion that frugal consumers are more independent than other consumers. That is, they are less likely to be influenced by their personal network of friends (i.e., they are resistant to social influences). In three studies, the findings demonstrate the influence that personal networks have on frugal consumers' spending behavior. The findings reveal (a) frugal consumers spend more when they consume with high-spending networks of friends vs. low-spending networks of friends (studies 1a, 1b), (b) however, these results only apply for strong-tie networks and not for weak-tie networks (study 2). In summary, while frugal consumers are known to be independent and disciplined with their spending, they are less so when they consume with high-spending, strong-tie personal networks.

The process of crisis information dissemination: impacts of the strength of ties in social networks

Purpose – The strength of ties between individuals influences the speed and spread of crisis information dissemination (CID). By constructing networks of strong and weak ties, this paper aims to innovatively explore the impacts of strong and weak ties on the CID at the macro level. Design/methodology/approach – To better understand the rules of CID in different kinds of social networks, this paper constructs a CID model based on the strength of ties in social networks and cellular automation, using simulations of CID speed and spread in an entire network, strong tie network and weak tie network generated by MATLAB. Findings – As the article's major theoretical contribution, the results demonstrate that CID is more efficient in a network of weak ties than in a network of strong ties, and that the spread of CID has a positive correlation with the believability of the information disseminated and the dissemination tendency coefficient. Furthermore, the difference of dissemination speeds between strong and weak tie networks varies regularly with information believability and the dissemination tendency coefficient. Originality/value – This study provides more effective public mechanisms for rapidly evaluating the believability of crisis information and responding to crises in real time. The findings also have some valuable implications for government agencies to improve the efficiency and effect of CID.

From business networks to philanthropic networks: Chinese entrepreneurs and the SEE project

In the study of modern Chinese philanthropy, Chinese entrepreneurs and business people have become important players to understand the development of a modern form of philanthropy in Mainland China, albeit with Chinese governmental encouragement. This paper will explore mainland Chinese entrepreneurs’ foray into social responsibility in a changing moral landscape. It argues that through different sets of loose networks of weak ties in the business dealings connections among the entrepreneurs, these entrepreneurs were able to extend their loose entrepreneurial networks into philanthropic networks and establish an environment oriented NGO called Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology (SEE). It will examine how entrepreneurs’ business connections and networks are transformed into philanthropic networks where the intersection of the entrepreneurs’ philanthropic acts leads to an entrepreneurial alliance of social responsibility and in this case study, to concern about the environmental issues. The forging of this alliance is located against a background of government’s encouragement through a combination of rhetorical persuasion and policy incentives.

Exploring the Role of Trust in the Deal–Making Process for Early–Stage Technology Ventures

The deal–making process requires entrepreneurial actors to create and maintain wide networks of weak ties while simultaneously developing stronger collaborative ties that will enable opportunities to be realized. We currently lack an adequate account of how these activities are integrated by deal–makers under conditions of risk and uncertainty. In an empirical study of deal making in early–stage technology ventures, we find that deal–makers rely on different forms of trust in the early and later phases. Based on this study, we develop a process model and propositions on the role of trust in integrating strong and weak ties in deal making.

Social networks in complex human and natural systems: the case of rotational grazing, weak ties, and eastern US dairy landscapes

Multifunctional agricultural systems seek to expand upon production-based benefits to enhance family wellbeing and animal health, reduce inputs, and improve environmental services such as biodiversity and water quality. However, in many countries a landscape-level conversion is uneven at best and stalled at worst. This is particularly true across the eastern rural landscape in the United States. We explore the role of social networks as drivers of system transformation within dairy production in the eastern United States, specifically rotational grazing as an alternative management option. We hypothesize the importance of weak ties within farmer social networks as drivers of change. In Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and New York, we conducted 53 interviews with confinement, low-intensity, and rotational grazing dairy producers as well as 35 interviews with associated network actors. Though confinement and grazier networks had similar proportions of strong and weak ties, confinement producers had more market-based weak ties, while graziers had more weak-ties to government agencies and other graziers in the region. These agency weak ties supported rotational graziers through information exchange and cost sharing, both crucial to farmers’ transitions from confinement-based production to grazing systems. While weak ties were integral to initial innovation, farmers did not maintain these relationships beyond their transition to grazing. Of equal importance, grazier weak-tie networks did not include environmental organizations, suggesting unrealized potential for more diverse networks based on environmental services. By understanding the drivers, we can identify barriers to expanding weak tie networks and emergent properties in order to create institutions and policies necessary for change.

Weak-Tie Support Network Preference, Health-Related Stigma, and Health Outcomes in Computer-Mediated Support Groups

Although computer-mediated support groups have been argued to be beneficial for individuals coping with health-related stigma, few studies have explored how communication processes may moderate perceptions of stigma and health outcomes. Increasing our understanding of the relationships among these variables may help to inform social support interventions for individuals facing stigmatized health issues. Drawing from the optimal matching model, the reported study examined the relationships among strong-tie/weak-tie support network preference and health-related stigma for stress and depression among members of health-related computer-mediated support groups. The results indicated that health-related stigma was positively associated with preference for weak-tie support, and preference for weak-tie support was found to moderate the relationship between stigma and both stress and depression. The implications of the findings for the role of on-line weak-tie network supportive relationships in reducing stigma and its application to developing support-focused health interventions and segmenting potential intervention participants are discussed.

Ethnographic Study of Experiences of Pakistani Women Immigrants With Pregnancy, Birthing, and Postpartum Care in the United States and Pakistan

Describe the comparative birthing experiences of Pakistani immigrant women in Pakistan and the United States. The framework was drawn from Berry's cultural adaptation, Glick-Schiller et al.'s transnationalism and Berkman's social network. Qualitative Women experienced difficulties associated with inability to observe cultural traditions and loss of extended, gendered kin support. Adaptive strategies were evident through development of social networks of weak ties with non-kin groups in the United States, maintenance of transnational ties with kin back in Pakistan, and assimilation of less gender-defined roles by women and their spouses.

The interplay of human and social capital in shaping entrepreneurial performance: the case of Vietnam

This study investigates the effects of human capital, social capital and their interaction on the performance of 1,398 Vietnamese new-born firms. Operating profit is used as the measure of success. Human capital is captured by individual-level professional education, start-up experience, and learning. Whereas the first two dimensions of human capital are measured with traditional indicators, we define learning as the ability to accumulate knowledge to conduct innovation activities (new product introduction, product innovation and process innovation). Social capital is measured as benefits obtained from personal strong-tie and weak-tie networks. Key findings are threefold: (i) human capital strongly predicts firm success, with learning exhibiting a statistically significant positive association with operating profit, (ii) benefits from weak ties outweigh those from strong ties, (iii) interaction of human capital and social capital displays a statistically significant positive effect on new-firm performance.

The Interplay of Human and Social Capital in Shaping Entrepreneurial Performance: The Case of Vietnam

This study investigates the effects of human capital, social capital and their interaction on the performance of 1,398 Vietnamese new-born firms. Operating profit is used as the measure of success. Human capital is captured by individual-level professional education, start-up experience, and learning. Whereas the first two dimensions of human capital are measured with traditional indicators, we define learning as ability to accumulate knowledge to conduct innovation activities (new product introduction, product innovation and process innovation). Social capital is measured as benefits obtained from personal strong-tie and weak-tie networks. Key findings are three-fold: human capital strongly predicts firm success, with learning exerting a statistically significant positive impact on operating profit; benefits from weak ties outweigh those from strong ties; interaction of human capital and social capital displays a statistically significant positive effect on new-firm performance.