Making good things happen: optimism and the range of personal social networks

Using the 2004 General Social Survey, I illuminate how dispositional optimism as a form of emotional capital enhances personal network range while also contributing to public goods through the formation of heterophilous ties. Network size and diversity are conceptualized as outcomes of optimistic functioning, which is marked by sociability, positive emotion, and problem-focused coping. I find that optimism is linked to substantial leverage in overall, non-kin, and extended network sizes on par with several years of education. Moreover, optimism yields more types of network heterophily than does educational attainment. I discuss limitations of the current study while also identifying future directions for research on emotional capital in the creation of social capital.