Does unemployment lead to isolation? The consequences of unemployment for social networks

Popular accounts in both social science and society claim that unemployment goes together with social withdrawal. However, empirical support for this conclusion is largely derived from cross-sectional studies or indirect measurements of social contacts. In this study, we argue that consequences of unemployment for personal networks differ across social groups and by length of unemployment. Using longitudinal data from the Swiss Household Panel (1999–2010), we focus on three frequently employed social network statistics: network size, contact frequency, and perceived support by friends, family, neighbors, and acquaintances. We estimate how short (<1 year) and long term (>1 year) unemployment relates to these network characteristics for men and women, people below and above 50 years of age, and lower and higher educated individuals. Our results provide a more-nuanced perspective on the commonly assumed social withdrawal following unemployment.     

Exploring the role of network diversity and resources in relationship to generalized trust in Norway

Several studies suggest a positive relationship between social capital and generalized trust. Employing a network understanding of social capital (Lin, 2001), this study questions which aspects of social networks may be linked with generalized trust. It investigates whether the diversity of social networks and the socio-economic status of one’s contacts are linked with generalized trust in the Norwegian, egalitarian context. The analyses examine these patterns in relationship to both kin and non-kin contacts. The study employs data from the first Norwegian survey that includes the position generator (PG). The empirical analyses show that extensive social networks are indeed linked to higher levels of generalized trust, but that this relationship is limited to non-kin contacts. Concerning the link between network resources and generalized trust, there is evidence of a more general association with generalized trust that holds when considering both kin and non-kin contacts. These results are a first step in developing a more nuanced discussion of the mechanisms associated with generalized trust and highlight the importance of employing measures that account for the homophily of networks when investigating their relationship to trust.     

Class inequalities in access to social capital in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires

this paper analyzes social class inequalities in access to social capital. Quantitative methodology was used with data from the PI-Clases “Reproduction and social mobility in family trajectories and life courses” survey, conducted in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires in 2015 (n = 1065). Social capital measures where derived from the Position Generator (Lin, 2001) to identify the volume, status and range of the respondent’s networks. Results show that there are class inequalities in access to social capital in terms of the number of contacts, mean status of contacts, range of contact’s status and highest status of contacts. Also, the working class is more heterogeneous in its access to social capital, suggesting it has a sector that has network ties with people from the middle class and a sector with lower social capital. The observed trend is of gradational differences between class strata, with more marked inequalities between the service, intermediate and working class, but with fluid class boundaries without social segregation. Also, social capital is conditioned by intergenerational mobility trajectory, showing a trend of elasticity in the class composition of social relationships. The upwardly mobile can increase their access to social capital but don’t reach the same level as the intergenerationally stable, while the downwardly mobile retain some social capital from their class origins.     

The subjective dimension of social isolation: A qualitative investigation of older adults' experiences in small social support networks

In the aging literature, social isolation has been primarily defined in terms of reduced support network size and low frequency of social contacts. Having a small social support network is associated with social isolation and an increased risk of physical and emotional vulnerability. However, this conceptualization ignores the contributions of a host of other factors, including life experiences, family dynamics, and long-term patterns of socialization. This paper argues that alongside quantitative assessments of support systems, the application of a life course perspective is needed to understand small social networks as lived experience. We report on findings from 28 in-depth interviews with older adults identified as being at risk of social isolation on the basis of the self-reported size of their social networks. We discuss these participants' experiences in the context of significant life course transitions such as marriage and widowhood.     

Social networks and getting a home: Do contacts matter?

Under what conditions does one find a new home via one's social network? Does the way in which a house is acquired affect how satisfied one is with the house? We formulate hypotheses on the characteristics of personal networks, the context of the move and their effect on those who attain a house through informal channels and how satisfied they are with the new home. We use a representative dataset from the Netherlands (the Survey of the Social Networks of the Dutch, SSND, n = 1007) to test our arguments. Our results show that buyers with more diverse social networks and renters with larger social networks are more likely to find their home via social contacts. However, finding a home through an informal channel does not enhance their satisfaction with the house that is found.     

Leisure Activities in Unemployed Emerging Adults: Links to Career Adaptability and Subjective Well‐Being

The present study examined if frequency and quality of 3 types of leisure activities (i.e., relaxation, achievement, and social) can function as protective factors for subjective well‐being (SWB) and career adaptability (CA) among 184 unemployed emerging adults (84 women, 100 men). Participants responded to measures of leisure frequency and quality, SWB, and CA. The results of a multivariate analysis of variance indicated that the frequency of relaxation, achievement, and social leisure activities had no effect on SWB and CA. However, regression analyses indicated that the quality of social leisure activities significantly predicted SWB and the quality of achievement and social leisure activities significantly predicted CA. The quality of relaxation leisure activities was not associated with SWB and CA. Findings indicate that counselors who work with unemployed emerging adults can use leisure activities to promote SWB and CA. Future research to better understand the role of leisure in well‐being and career development among emerging adults is encouraged.     

(When) Is job-finding via personal contacts a meaningful concept for social network analysis? A comment to

Chua (2011) argues that in a meritocratic context, institutions restrict the usefulness of social networks in exerting influence on job seekers’ earnings. Regressing job-finding via personal contacts on earnings, he finds negative effects of influence via personal contacts, especially for the well-educated and individuals working in the state sector. In this comment, I argue that these results are ambiguous because (1) the analysis does not sufficiently distinguish between job ‘search’ methods and job ‘finding’ methods, (2) job-finding method indicates information flow rather than a personal contact's influence, and (3) it remains unclear whether Chua's analysis reflects the effect of network usage in job search per se or the effect of self-selection into network usage by individuals with low earning potential.     

Social network and family business: Uncovering hybrid family firms

What does it mean for a private enterprise in China to be embedded in a family? Our purpose here is twofold: (1) use social network analysis to describe what it means for a firm to be embedded in a family, (2) reveal from the application a new kind of firm, not family, yet akin to family. Armed with data on a large probability sample of private enterprises — a third of which meet ownership and employment criteria of being family businesses — we uncover a category of “hybrid family firms” that look modern in the style of firms that exclude family, but operate socially in ways similar to family firms. Our conclusion from summary statistics on the sample is that there are no differences in average performance level or network advantage for the three categories of businesses: family firms, hybrid family firms, and family-excluded firms. The fact that CEOs of family firms and hybrid family firms more often turn to family as key business contacts is a fact about network composition that raises no question about network mechanisms. Whether the CEO turns to more or fewer family contacts, government help is more likely with stronger political connections, and business success and survival are more likely with a large, open network. That said, the look-modern, act-traditional hybrid family firms stand alone in prospering with a CEO embedded in a closed business network. Recognition of hybrid family firms adds to the literature’s illustrations of social network analysis used to distinguish types of businesses and business people, and extends the population of organizations within which governance and strategy are likely to be better understood when viewed through a family logic.     

Ask and you shall receive: Social network contacts’ provision of help during the job search

Social network contacts—the people who are asked to help with others’ job searches—are key players in the job networking process. Before job seekers can become employed with the help social networks, contacts must first be able and willing to share the social resources job seekers need for their search. Little is known about the factors that affect contacts’ ability and willingness to do this. Analyses of a unique dataset of contacts show that they typically have access to resources and help job seekers by sharing them. Still, contacts are better able to help when they are male, employed, and better educated than job seekers. They are more willing to help when they perceive job seekers to be “good” workers. In identifying the conditions in which contacts provide social resources, this study illustrates how social networks are a productive job search strategy for some, but not all, job seekers.     

Getting connected while aging: the effects of WeChat network characteristics on the well-being of Chinese mature adults

We Chat is one of the most popular social media applications, ranking fifth globally. Drawing on the socioemotional selectivity theory, this study investigated the usage of WeChat among Chinese aged 50–80 years in 68 cities across the country. This study is the first to examine the effects of the characteristics of the WeChat network on users’ psychological well-being (PWB) and subjective well-being (SWB). The results of the online survey (N?=?506) suggested that making strong connections on WeChat positively affected the participants’ PWB and SWB. Connecting with individuals who shared the same interests also improved the participants’ PWB and SWB. However, connections with neighbors on WeChat decreased their PWB. Our findings have valuable implications for social networking platform designers, social workers, and the community of both emerging seniors and senior citizens.     

Review of the effects of Five Factor Model personality traits on network structures and perceptions of structure

We review recent research on Five Factor Model personality and social network analysis to assess how structures develop and are perceived. Extraversion and agreeableness relate consistently to personal but not workplace networks. Extraverts are more likely to seek connections, whereas agreeable individuals receive connections from others. Openness predicts network diversity and is marginally related to position when groups pursue collective goals. Conscientiousness is associated with maintaining certain personal relationships, but is strongly related to central positions in workplace networks. Neuroticism has no consistent relationship with network size or composition, and is differentially related to network positions, depending on the context.     

An exploratory comparison of name generator content: Data from rural India

Since the 1970s sociologists have explored the best means for measuring social networks, although few name generator analyses have used sociocentric data or data from developing countries, partly because sociocentric studies in developing countries have been scant. Here, we analyze 12 different name generators used in a sociocentric network study conducted in 75 villages in rural Karnataka, India. Having unusual sociocentric data from a non-Western context allowed us to extend previous name generator research through the unique analyses of network structural measures, an extensive consideration of homophily, and investigation of status difference between egos and alters. We found that domestic interaction questions generated networks that were highly clustered and highly centralized. Similarity between respondents and their nominated contacts was strongest for gender, caste, and religion. We also found that domestic interaction name generators yielded the most homogeneous ties, while advice questions yielded the most heterogeneous. Participants were generally more likely to nominate those of higher social status, although certain questions, such as who participants talk to uncovered more egalitarian relationships, while other name generators elicited the names of social contacts distinctly higher or lower in status than the respondent. Some questions also seemed to uncover networks that were specific to the cultural context, suggesting that network researchers should balance local relevance with global generalizability when choosing name generators.     

Perceived social support in Chinese parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a Chinese context: Implications for social work practice

This article reports the results of a Hong Kong study (no. of parents = 121) which identified perceived social support (PSS), both overall and four types of support, of Chinese parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and examined the impact of PSS on the interrelationship between the ADHD symptoms and parenting stress. The parents perceived support of their primary social network as more satisfactory than professionals’. Parenting stress of the high PSS group was lower than the low PSS group’s. The PSS-overall, parenting role, and the ADHD symptoms explained a significant variance of parenting stress. The results pave the way to develop a complex social work model in helping.     

Changes in core network size in Japan: Comparisons between the 1990s and 2010s

Few studies have examined changes in network size during the past 20 years in Japan despite changes in many other aspects of Japanese society that could affect Japanese social relationships. I conducted a time-series cross-sectional survey to investigate changes in network size for married Japanese people from 1993 to 2014. Results follow: 1) core network sizes decreased slightly; 2) the number of married males with no core network outside their households increased slightly; 3) kin and neighbour network sizes decreased and friend network size increased among married females; 4) kin network size decreased among married males; and 5) the probability of younger married males having no network friends increased. Overall, changes in network sizes were small, and we cannot conclude that serious social decay occurs among married Japanese people.     

Residential mobility and the spatial dispersion of personal networks: Effects on social support

Using a representative national sample of personal networks, this article explores how the spatial dispersion of networks, residential mobility and social support are linked. Three issues will be addressed here. Firstly, how is the spatial dispersion of personal networks related to individuals’ social characteristics, network composition and residential mobility? Secondly, how do the spatial dispersion of networks, residential mobility and their combined effect influence the number and (thirdly) the structure of emotional support ties? Results showed that the extent of the support was affected neither by the geographical distribution of the networks nor by residential mobility. Living far from one's birthplace, however, exerted two distinct, and opposite effects on the support network structure. On the one hand, mobility led to high spatial dispersion of personal contacts, which in turn favored a sparsely knit network centered around the mobile individual. On the other hand, by controlling for the effect of distance between the contacts, we found that individuals that cited long-distance ties tended to be part of more transitive support networks than those that cited local ties. We interpreted the latter effect as evidence that transitive ties may survive greater spatial distances than intransitive ones. These findings are discussed in view of spatial mobility and social network research.     

Empathic people have more friends: Empathic abilities predict social network size and position in social network predicts empathic efforts

Living in large groups and maintaining extensive social relationships, as humans do, requires special social capabilities. Past research has shown that social cognitive abilities predict people’s social network size. To extend these findings we explored the role of a social emotional ability, and investigated how empathic abilities shape people’s social network. In line with the social brain hypothesis the findings show that dispositional empathic abilities (IRI), and empathic concern specifically, predict how many close relationships people maintain. The study also found that emphatic abilities are strategically used in people’s social network, with more empathy exercised in the support group with closer relationships. The findings further demonstrate the social function of empathy and highlight the importance of understanding empathy in terms of its strategic exercise among various social relationships.     

网络时代上海社会管理创新研究

社会管理创新是一个时代课题。随着以信息技术为支撑的网络社会的逐步形成和深入发展,虚拟网络已经渗透到现实社会生活的各个方面,成为人们社会交往的重要渠道和实现人际关系的重要载体。网络社会对上海社会运行的影响力逐渐强化,现实社会对网络社会的依赖性与日俱增。网络时代的到来,对上海的社会管理工作带来了全新的命题。一方面网络为城市社会管理提供了新的手段和方式;另一方面网络也对上海现有的社会管理体制形成较大的挑战。深入揭示网络社会与现实社会的互动关系及内在机理,阐明网络传播对现实社会管理产生的种种影响,把握利用网络加强社会管理的有效方式,构建涵盖网络社会与现实社会的社会管理的新体制与新机制,是上海社会管理创新的一项重要任务。     

Personal Network Correlates and Predictors of Homelessness for Injection Drug Users in Baltimore,Maryland

Injection drug users are at high risk for homelessness and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. This study sought to examine incidence rates and the social and economic antecedents of homelessness of impoverished inner-city injection drug users. Of the 569 participants, from a nontreatment sample who participated HW prevention study, intelViewed at baseline, 324 (57%) were reintelViewed 5.2 months late!: At baseline 48% of the participants reported that they had been homeless in the past 10 years. Of the 324, 18% reported that at both intelViews they had been homeless within the prior 6 months, 12% reported homelessness at baseline but not at follow-up, and 8% reported homelessness at follow-up but not at baseline. At baseline personal social support network characteristic of size of material aid and size of sex network was found to be associated with self-reports of homelessness. Baseline reports ofpresence of mother in personal network, size of material aid network, and network density were found to be associated with reports of homelessness at follow-up. These result suggest the need for alternative approaches to addressing issues of homelessness injection drug users.     

How to search a social network

We address the question of how participants in a small world experiment are able to find short paths in a social network using only local information about their immediate contacts. We simulate such experiments on a network of actual email contacts within an organization as well as on a student social networking website. On the email network we find that small world search strategies using a contact’s position in physical space or in an organizational hierarchy relative to the target can effectively be used to locate most individuals. However, we find that in the online student network, where the data is incomplete and hierarchical structures are not well defined, local search strategies are less effective. We compare our findings to recent theoretical hypotheses about underlying social structure that would enable these simple search strategies to succeed and discuss the implications to social software design.