Journal article
Familiar faces, familiar spaces: Social similarity and co-presence in non-relational behavioral convergence
Network science (Cambridge University Press), Vol.6(3), pp.396-429
09/01/2018
DOI: 10.1017/nws.2018.12
Abstract
Social influence is frequently measured through an ego's direct ties. Although influence may also stem from an ego's indirect ties, reference group, and casual contacts, it is difficult to capture their impact using existing network methods. We identify and trace the influence stemming from an ego's "familiar others," consisting of those socially similar individuals with whom the ego comes in contact at school, but does not necessarily share a relationship. To evaluate the role of familiar others, we investigate unhealthy weight behaviors in adolescence using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Our results demonstrate that familiar others' unhealthy weight-related behaviors are strong predictors of the ego's own weight behaviors, net of immediate alters' behaviors, and individual-level characteristics. Further, we find that this relationship is stronger and more robust than that between egos and their direct ties. These results suggest that familiar others constitute a key source of social influence that is distinct from the influence of network alters.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Familiar faces, familiar spaces: Social similarity and co-presence in non-relational behavioral convergence
- Creators
- Rachel Behler - Univ Texas Austin, Populat Res Ctr, Austin, TX 78712 USAChan Suh - Chung Ang Univ, Dept Sociol, Seoul 06974, South KoreaMatthew Brashears - Univ South Carolina, Dept Sociol, Columbia, SC USAYongren Shi - Yale University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Network science (Cambridge University Press), Vol.6(3), pp.396-429
- Publisher
- Cambridge Univ Press
- DOI
- 10.1017/nws.2018.12
- ISSN
- 2050-1242
- eISSN
- 2050-1250
- Number of pages
- 34
- Grant note
- HDTRA-10-1-0043 / Defense Threat Reduction Agency; United States Department of Defense P01-HD31921 / Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 09/01/2018
- Academic Unit
- Sociology and Criminology
- Record Identifier
- 9984306241102771
Metrics
2 Record Views