Positive Ties Research Articles

Negative ties, social support buffering, and loneliness: Findings from a cross-national survey

This study examines the independent and interactive effects of perceived social support (positive ties) and relational stress (negative ties) on loneliness in later life. To that end, we differentiate the sources of social support, tap multiple items to measure relational stress, and analyze a large cross-national dataset containing probability samples of older adults across 28 countries ( N = 12,449). Our analysis demonstrates that the relationship between perceived social support and loneliness is source specific. A key finding is that perceived social support particularly from family is negatively associated with loneliness. Older adults who name friends and ‘others’ (e.g., coworkers, neighbors, acquaintances) as the most important source of support exhibit higher levels of loneliness than those who choose kin members. By contrast, relational stress, regardless of its source, is positively associated with loneliness. Moreover, this positive relationship between relational stress and loneliness is stronger for those who select others as the primary source of social support, lending credence to the concept of reverse buffering. Taken together, our findings underscore the importance of the sources of social positivity and social negativity in examining the interrelationships between positive ties, negative ties, and loneliness in later life.

The Association of Glycated Hemoglobin and Lipid Profile with Peripheral Artery Disease in Metabolic Syndrome Patients from Northwestern Algeria

تم إدماج الهيموجلوبين السكري (Hb1Ac) كمؤشر لخلل السكر في الدم بدلا من غلوكوز الدم الصائم (FGB)، لتصنيف المرضى بناء على حوادث الأوعية الدموية ،حيث يرتبطHb1Acارتباطا وثيقا بعوامل الأوعية الدموية مثل سرعة موجة النبض وسمك الوسائط الداخلية، نسبة الألبومين / الكرياتينين (ACR) ومع ذلك فإن العلاقة بينHb1Acونسبة الدهون في تطور أمراض الشرايين لاتزال غير مؤكدة. هدفنا الرئيسي من هذه الدراسة هو التحقيق في ارتباطHb1Acونسبة الدهون مع أمراض الأوعية الدموية الطرفية (PAD) في المرضى الذين يعانون من الاضطراب الأيضي (MetS) في شمال غرب الجزائر. أجريت دراستنا المقطعية لمدة ستة أشهر. تم حساب مؤثر كتلة الجسم كالتالي: (BMI (kg/m²)=weight(kg)/height²(m²، تم استخدام مؤشر الكاحل والعضد (ABI) أقل من 0.9 وتصوير الأوعية لتشخيص PADوحددنا MetS وفقا لمعاييرNECP-ATPIII. تم استعمال اختبار تحليل الارتباط (correlation test) والانحدار الخطي (linear regression) لدراسة الصلة بينHb1Ac، نسبة السكر في الدم، نسب الدهون وحدوث أمراض الشرايين الطرفية لدى الأفراد المصابين بالاضطراب الأيضي. من بين 300 مصاب الاضطراب الأيضي، 53 % تمثل الذكور. لوحظ وجود ارتباطات إيجابية بينHb1Ac،(r=0.753, p<0.001) FGB والتري غلسيريد ((TG (r=0.288, p<0.001) وارتباط سلبي مع البروتين الدهني عالي الكثافة (HDL) (r=-0.356, p<0.001). لم يظهرHb1Ac أي ارتباط مع الكوليسترول الكلي (TC) و البروتين الدهني منخفض الكثافة (LDL). أظهرت نسب الدهون(TG/HDL ,LDL/HDL , TC/HDL) ارتباطات ايجابية مع)Hb1Acr=0.332 r=0.232, r=0.43.(أكد اختبار الانحدار الخطي هذه النتائج. أظهر Hb1Ac ارتباطات ايجابية مع FGB و TG في حين أنه يرتبط سلبا بالبروتين الدهني عالي الكثافة(HDL) . و مستقل عن البروتين الدهني منخفض الكثافة (LDL) والكوليسترول الكلي (TC) و الجدير بالذكر أن نسب الدهون الثلاثة TG/HDL) LDL/HDL , TC/HDL (أظهرت ارتباطات ايجابية معHb1Ac .

How intergenerational estrangement matters for maternal and adult children's health

AbstractObjectiveWe compare maternal and adult child health outcomes across (1) estranged (i.e., no contact, or low contact and low quality), (2) socially positive (i.e., high quality, moderate to high contact), and (3) socially negative (i.e., high contact but low quality) maternal–adult child relationships.BackgroundWe develop intergenerational resource, crisis, and strain theories to test the link between socially positive, socially negative, and estranged maternal–adult child dynamics and the health of both generations.MethodRegression models of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79 and NLSY79‐CYA) data compare self‐rated health and CES‐D scores across maternal–adult child relationship types (N = 2609 mothers; 5590 children).ResultsMothers with estranged ties report poorer health relative to those with socially positive ties. Mothers with socially negative ties report statistically similar health relative to mothers with either socially positive or estranged ties. The health of adult children with estrangement exposure is similar to those in socially negative ties, while adult children with socially negative ties have worse health relative to those in socially positive ties. Estranged adult children report worse self‐rated health than those in socially positive ties, but adult children's mental health is not statistically different than those in socially positive ties. Family‐level analyses incorporating siblings suggest that for mothers, an estranged/socially negative tie with any child is associated with worse self‐rated health; for adult children, one's own maternal relationship is more consequential than the sibling context.ConclusionThis study has implications for research and theory on the health cost of socially negative and estranged intergenerational ties.

Pregnant and Postpartum Women in Prison: Experiences of Social Ties Within the Total Institution

ABSTRACT Women who are pregnant and postpartum in prison must deal with their incarceration along with the immense stress of having given birth while inside a total institution. Total institutions can strip individuals of who they are on the outside and disconnect people from the outside world. While the total institution serves to cut people off from the outside, ties between other incarcerated women and those on the outside can persist. For these women, social ties from both with those inside and outside the prison is crucial – positive ties can take the form of friendship, emotional support, practical assistance, or even taking temporary custody of the baby. We consider social ties from those inside and outside the prison in terms of support and strain within the context of the total institution. We consider the effects of positive, negative, and mixed ties and the relationship between incarceration and pregnant and postpartum women’s relationships, which has major implications.

Transnational Remittance Practices Among Latinos: Analyzing Differences Based on Nativity, Generational Status, and Social Capital

Using data from the Chicago Area Survey (CAS), our study explores the impact of individual characteristics and factors linked to assimilation and ethnic attachment on the financial behaviors of Latinos in the United States. We particularly examine generational variations in the amount and determinants of remittance behavior among Latinos in the Chicago Metropolitan area. Our findings reveal distinct generational patterns in remittance practices as a transnational activity. While second-generation Latinos engage in remittance activities comparably to their foreign-born parents, a significant decrease is observed in third and subsequent generations. Interestingly, remittance behavior appears to be inversely related to traditional assimilation measures. Contradicting straightforward assimilation theories and aligning more with a transnational viewpoint, our multivariate models suggest a positive correlation between remittance activities and various integration indicators for both foreign-born and U.S.-born Latinos in the Chicago area. While a generational decline in remittance behavior supports assimilation theory, the positive ties between socioeconomic status or assimilation indicators and remittance activities prompt a reevaluation of the assimilation model's dominance. Our results suggest a complex interplay between assimilation processes and remittance behavior, indicating that the latter doesn't necessarily decrease as the former progresses. This calls for more research into the intricate relationship between these two dynamics.

The Impact of Dissonant Tie on Innovation Performance of Digital Transformation

The acquisition of innovation performance through social network relationship resources is a common behavior pattern of organizational members. Recent social network research suggests that negative ties may also have a positive impact on organizational innovation compared with positive ties. Based on this, the paper investigates the impact of dissonant tie, which are a combination of problem-solving tie and difficult working tie, on organizational innovation. The empirical results show that dissonant tie promotes organizational innovation performance and are enhanced by digital sensing and digital seizing, while the increasing effect of the dissonant tie on organizational innovation performance is not verified under the moderating effect of digital reconfiguring. The findings are useful for understanding why certain negative ties may promote organizational innovation and performance, and to provide a theoretical basis for how manufacturing companies can use complex social network ties to survive organizational change and enhance organizational adaptability in digital transformation.

Neophytes may promote hybridization and adaptations to a changing planet.

Human activities erode geographic barriers, facilitating hybridization among previously isolated taxa. However, limited empirical research exists on the consequences of introduced species (neophytes) for hybridization and subsequent evolutionary outcomes. To address this knowledge gap, we employed a macroecological approach. First, we examined the spatial and phylogenetic overlap between neophytes and hybrids by integrating the Plants of the World Online database with the Global Naturalized Alien Flora database. Second, leveraging the largest dated plant phylogeny available, we compared diversification rates between genera containing hybrids and neophytes versus those without. Third, focusing on the extensively studied hybrid flora of Britain, we studied the spatial distributions of hybrids in relation to neophyte and native parents, assessing potential adaptations to anthropogenic disturbances and impacts on native species. Overall, our findings highlight positive ties between contemporary biodiversity redistribution and hybridization. Spatially (across countries) and phylogenetically (across genera), neophyte incidence was positively associated with hybrid incidence. Genera comprising both hybrids and neophytes displayed significantly higher diversification rates. Neophyte hybrids primarily occupied areas with a higher human footprint, with limited evidence of hybrids threatening native species throughout their range in more natural habitats. These results challenge the notion that species naturalizations and hybridizations exclusively yield negative outcomes for biodiversity. While it is conceivable that anthropogenic hybridization may facilitate recombination of genetic variation and contribute to conserving genetic diversity in disturbed environments, further research is needed to fully understand these processes.

Through the Eyes of a Strategist and a Diplomat: Polish-American Relations post-1918

Through the Eyes of a Strategist and a Diplomat: Polish-American Relations post-1918

The Local Government as a New Quality in the International Relations. Aggresion Against Ukraine as a Verifying Factor

The article describes the international cooperation of local governments, which are a form of decentralization of democratic states. This cooperation developed massively after the Second World War. Today more than 200,000 local and regional communities participate in it, cooperating not only by direct contacts, but also through various types of organizations and networks. This is a new and growing phenomenon in the international environment. On selected examples of Polish local governments, it is shown how strong are the positive ties between members of territorial communities from different countries, built by this cooperation. Their strength and nature are shown by presenting the activities of selected Polish local governments during the extreme crisis, i.e. the war in Ukraine. Thus, it was presented how Polish local governments help the attacked Ukrainians and Ukraine.

Multi-Stage Machine Learning Model for Hierarchical Tie Valence Prediction

Individuals interacting in organizational settings involving varying levels of formal hierarchy naturally form a complex network of social ties having different tie valences (e.g., positive and negative connections). Social ties critically affect employees’ satisfaction, behaviors, cognition, and outcomes—yet identifying them solely through survey data is challenging because of the large size of some organizations or the often hidden nature of these ties and their valences. We present a novel deep learning model encompassing NLP and graph neural network techniques that identifies positive and negative ties in a hierarchical network. The proposed model uses human resource attributes as node information and web-logged work conversation data as link information. Our findings suggest that the presence of conversation data improves the tie valence classification by 8.91% compared to employing user attributes alone. This gain came from accurately distinguishing positive ties, particularly for male, non-minority, and older employee groups. We also show a substantial difference in conversation patterns for positive and negative ties with positive ties being associated with more messages exchanged on weekends, and lower use of words related to anger and sadness. These findings have broad implications for facilitating collaboration and managing conflict within organizational and other social networks.

The Role of Negative Ties in Understanding the Link Between Social Networks and Organizational Creativity

The aim of this study is to develop propositions for determining the relationship between negative ties of social networks and organizational creativity and to examine the effects of organizational networks on organizational creativity from an interpretative research perspective by considering negative bonds. Firstly, the basic information in the literature on organizational change and organizational networks was examined. Then, propositions were developed for determining the relationship between social networks and organizational creativity by considering the negative ties. To be competitive, organizations must also be innovative, making organizational creativity a crucial capability. Accordingly, the past decade has seen increasing attention among scholars in the field of creativity. Most of the organizational network studies focus on positive ties and relations obtained through ties that reflect relational forces and they ignore the differential factors that arise as a result of negative ties. In this context, the importance of negative ties was discussed. The interpretative approach tries to find answers to research questions with theoretical explanations in cases where there is not much information about the concept for the first time to reveal the theoretical relationship of the concepts specified in the current literature.

Inferring signed networks from preschoolers’ observed parallel and social play

Early childhood is an important developmental period for network formation. However, the observational methods used for measuring young children’s networks present challenges for capturing both positive and negative ties. To overcome these challenges, we explored the use of a bipartite projection backbone model for inferring both negative and positive ties from observational data of children’s play. Using observational data collected in one 3-year-old (N = 17) and one 4-year-old (N = 18) preschool classroom, we examined whether patterns of homophily, triadic closure, and balance in networks inferred using this method matched theoretical and empirical expectations from the early childhood literature. Consistent with this literature, we found that signed networks inferred using a backbone model exhibited gender homophily in positive ties and gender heterophily in negative ties. Additionally, networks inferred from social play exhibited more closed and balanced triads than networks inferred from parallel play. These findings offer evidence of the validity of bipartite projection backbone models for inferring signed networks from preschoolers’ observed play.

The Power of Networks: A Pre-Requisite to Social Network Analysis

Social network analysis has attained significant attention in recent times. It is a contemporary data driven technique which maps and measures social structures using network and graph theory for people analytics. A pre-requisite to social network analysis is to explore the network genesis and its evolution. Most of the social network studies in the past have focused primarily on the impact of social networks on employees but none of the studies have identified the reasons why do employees bond with specific network members in the first place and what are the different types of workplace social networks. For this reason we wanted to conduct a systematic literature review for identifying the reasons why specific workplace social networks exists, classify different types of workplace networks and highlight network ties which are beneficial for achieving organizational goals. By employing social network theory, this study investigates the intra-organizational networks of corporate business environment. Multiple databases were used to extract relevant papers for this review such as Science Direct, IEEE Xplore, Scopus and Web of Science databases and Directory of Open Access Journals. Some of the major trends identified from the 48 past papers included in this review are: (1) different types of workplace social networks are created based on specific employee interdependency; (2) strong and weak ties both are beneficial for fast information diffusion; (3) negative ties have a stronger impact on organizational outcomes then positive ties. This review will provide a new broader conceptualization of social networks and its influence on employees.

Restoring Honor by Slapping or Disowning the Daughter.

The psychological processes underlying honor violence against kin are poorly understood. We assumed that honor violence against daughters who violate a gendered norm is designed to uphold family honor and nurture positive links to the community. Four studies with Indian men supported this formulation. As expected, endorsement of honor violence (i.e., slapping or disowning the daughter) increased insofar as perceived community awareness of the violation increased. Moreover, endorsement of honor violence was especially common among those whose identities were closely aligned ("fused") with their community. Finally, a desire to restore threatened family honor, rather than a motivation to prevent future dishonor, motivates honor violence against daughters; conversely, a desire to prevent future dishonor motivates constructive activities such as advising. Ironically, a benign, culturally universal desire to maintain positive ties to the community can encourage community members to endorse violence toward transgressive kin.

A deep learning and heuristic methodology for predicting breakups in social network structures

AbstractLiterature have focused on studying the apparent and latent interactions within social graphs as an n‐ary operation, which yields binary outputs comprising positives (friends, likes, etc.) and negatives (foes, dislikes, etc.). Inasmuch as interactions constitute the bedrock of any given social network (SN) structure; there exist scenarios where an interaction, which was once considered a positive, transmutes into a negative as a result of one or more indicators which have affected the interaction quality. At present, this transmutation has to be manually executed by the affected actors in the SN. These manual transmutations can be quite inefficient, ineffective, and a mishap might have been incurred by the constituent actors and the SN structure prior to a resolution. Our problem statement aims at automatically flagging positive ties that should be considered for breakups or rifts (negative‐tie state), as they tend to pose potential threats to actors and the SN. Therefore, we have proposed ClasReg: a unique framework capable of breakup and link predictions.

Does Diversity of Social Ties Really Matter More for Health and Leisure Activity than Number of Social Ties? Evidence from Later Adulthood.

Claims that the diversity of social ties matters more for health than the sheer number of ties have largely gone untested. This study accordingly compared the unique associations of number versus diversity of social ties with key health-related outcomes: functional limitations and leisure activities. Additionally, positive and ambivalent ties were distinguished. Social networks, health, and leisure activities were assessed in a national sample of older adults (N = 874; ages 65-91). Regression analyses revealed that number of ties related to each outcome at a magnitude comparable to, or exceeding, that of diversity in most models. For positive ties, number related more strongly than diversity to greater leisure activities. For ambivalent ties, number related more strongly than diversity to worse functional limitations. Contrary to prevailing views, diversity of ties is not necessarily more important than number of ties. Findings extend scientific understanding and approaches to interventions.

Поэма Ивана Карамазова «Великий инквизитор»: отклик Достоевского на протест архимандрита Феодора (А.М. Бухарева)

The article suggests that the chapter “The Grand Inquisitor” in F.M. Dosto­evsky’s novel “The Brothers Karamazov”, which raises the question of the ne­cessity/undesirability of strict administration in the field of church and social life, is a reflection of the views of Archimandrite Theodore (A.M. Bukharev), for his protests against the infringement of the human right to choose a religious model and social freedom subjected to bullying by conservative circles. In a num­ber of his books throughout the 1860s Bukharev insisted on the need to abandon authoritarianism, he questioned the inviolability of church dogmas in favor of a free spiritual search of a person not constrained by restrictions. Contempo­raries, including A.I. Herzen, commenting on this issue, spoke of Bukharev’s persecutors from the Synod and the “Domashnaya beseda” magazine (The Home Conversation) as “inquisitors” who dealt with the philosopher in the same way as the Spanish religious police did. Bukharev’s main idea was the need for the country and the whole world to move from the generally accepted Old Testament model of political and trade relations between people based on the idea of “an eye for an eye” to benevolent positive ties based on the principle of brotherly love, commanded by Jesus Christ. Dostoevsky laid this idea at the foundation of the ideology of “pochvennichestvo”, as was reported in the “Announcement” about the publication of the magazine “Time”, the organ of the socio-cultural project created by him. The motives and the basic structure of Bukharev’s logic, the idea of the saving power of Christian love, were used by Dostoevsky in all his works written after Bukharev’s death. It was used with the greatest force in the novel “The Brothers Karamazov” for modern readers at the level of hidden allusion, and for contemporaries it was done in the form of an open allusion.

Social relationships in children: favourable influence of activities promoting self-awareness and empathic interaction

Abstract Embodied and intersubjective experience is crucial to the social cognition processes on which interpersonal relationships are based. We assessed whether promoting these processes through participation in self-awareness and empathic interaction activities can influence social integration among peers in 7- to 8-year-old children. The intervention, conducted in a school context, included mindfulness-based practices (favouring self-awareness), empathic collaboration activities and perspective-taking instances (promoting other-oriented awareness). To evaluate social integration levels, children were asked to complete a sociometric questionnaire, each listing the peers they would choose to play with (positive ties) and those they would prefer not to play with (negative ties). Based on this relational data, two types of directed networks were constructed: positive networks (PN) and negative networks (NN), in two temporal instances (pre- and post-intervention). In both the experimental and waitlist groups, pre–post intervention changes in the topology of peer social networks were evaluated by analysing global network properties such as connectivity, degree distribution, density, reciprocity, transitivity and modular structure. Our findings showed that after participating in the intervention social integration was improved, reflected in increased general interconnection of positive ties: greater average connectivity and density in PN, more equitably distributed choices (no evident leadership), greater cohesion and an increase in the number of reciprocal interactions. Additionally, we found a lower level of social rejection; that is, lower average connectivity and density in NN, the persistence of only mutual negative choices and negative ties confined to small groups. These findings were not observed in the waitlist group. This study demonstrates how participation in an intervention that promotes social cognition processes can influence the structure of peer social networks, favouring social integration. The social network analysis provides quantitative evidence of the plasticity of social relationships in children, constituting a valuable tool for the assessment of this kind of intervention at a group level.

The Impacts of Friendship, Advice and Negative Ties on Intention To Leave: The case of nurses in a special branch hospital

OBJECTIVES: The high turnover rate of nurses has been a matter of debate among scholars. Nurses’ social interaction patterns and the social structure they are situated within may provide clues about possible causes of their high turnover intentions. This study aims to investigate the possible effects of negative and positive ties on the intention of turnover among nurses. DESIGN & SETTING: A hybrid research methodology was used. Social network analysis was used to reveal the positions of the nurses (n = 126) in the positive and negative networks. A statistical model was formed with varying types of centrality measures, intragroup conflict, and intention to leave variables. The data was collected from all the nurses working in a special branch hospital. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The findings of the study clearly indicate that negative interactions directly and indirectly affect the intention to leave, and the nurses demand professional support from their colleagues. The findings also show the existence of a fragmented social structure among nurses, which suggests the increased importance of brokerage roles. Managers should closely monitor the negative interactions among nurses, and they need to use conflict management techniques frequently to reduce hostile relations in the business environment. Managers should especially seek ways to increase altruistic tendencies among colleagues because nurses demand professional support ties more than friendship relations.

Psychosocial protective factors in promoting healthy lifestyles in children and adolescents

Abstract Introduction Children and adolescents from socially vulnerable families experience social as well as health-related disadvantages at a very early age. Resilience research increasingly focuses on general psychosocial protective factors and their positive role as an effective health resource. In this research, the influence of some selected protective factors on a healthy lifestyle in the target group of secondary school students is shown. Methods Using a method of a cluster analysis, a theory-led lifestyle typology was developed based on the variables ‘physical-sport activity' and ‘media consumption patterns'. Four lifestyle clusters were identified: sports-active frequent media users, sports-active low media users, sports-inactive frequent media users und sports-inactive low media users. The study examined how the resilience factor ‘physical fitness' (measured by the 6 min run) as well as personal, family and social protective factors were manifested in the respective clusters. Results In the sporty-active clusters, the proportion of children with good physical fitness was high (47%). In the sporty-inactive clusters, however, this proportion was only about 23%. Approximately 71.5% of the children in sporty-active clusters reported good health and health-promoting behavior, while in sporty-inactive clusters this percentage was 49.2%. Trusting and appreciative parent-child relationship and positive sibling ties were mentioned more frequently in sporty-active clusters than in sporty-inactive clusters. Discussion Regular exercise and moderate use of media have a positive effect on protective resilience factors. These can be considered as ‘health-enhancing' lifestyle characteristics in health-related behavior. Personal, family and social protective factors interact with physical activity and are effective health resources: physically active children are more resilient to stressful environmental situations. Key messages Regular exercise and moderate use of media have a positive effect on protective resilience factors. Protective resilience factors are ‘health-enhancing' lifestyle characteristics in health-related behavior.