Social Networks and Patterns of Social Interaction among Ever-Single and Separated/Divorced Elderly Canadians

Author(s):  
Laurel A. Strain ◽  
Barbara J. Payne

AbstractThis paper examines the social networks and patterns of social interactions of two relatively neglected marital status groups of elders, namely the ever-single and the separated/divorced. Drawing on data from the 1985 General Social Survey conducted by Statistics Canada, comparisons are made both between and among the 224 ever-single and 126 separated/divorced Canadians aged 65 and over. When controlling for age, gender, education and health status, ever-single individuals tend to have smaller family networks, a similar number of friends, and similar living arrangements as the separated/divorced. In-person contact with siblings is significantly associated with being ever-single while no differences emerge for contact with other relatives or with friends. Differences among the ever-single and among the separated/divorced are also assessed.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teruyoshi Kobayashi ◽  
Mathieu Génois

AbstractDensification and sparsification of social networks are attributed to two fundamental mechanisms: a change in the population in the system, and/or a change in the chances that people in the system are connected. In theory, each of these mechanisms generates a distinctive type of densification scaling, but in reality both types are generally mixed. Here, we develop a Bayesian statistical method to identify the extent to which each of these mechanisms is at play at a given point in time, taking the mixed densification scaling as input. We apply the method to networks of face-to-face interactions of individuals and reveal that the main mechanism that causes densification and sparsification occasionally switches, the frequency of which depending on the social context. The proposed method uncovers an inherent regime-switching property of network dynamics, which will provide a new insight into the mechanics behind evolving social interactions.


2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude S. Fischer

McPherson, Smith-Lovin, and Brashears (2006, 2008b) reported that Americans' social networks shrank precipitously from 1985 to 2004. When asked to list the people with whom they discussed “important matters,” respondents to the 2004 General Social Survey (GSS) provided about one-third fewer names than did respondents in the 1985 survey. Critically, the percentage of respondents who provided no names at all increased from about 10 percent in 1985 to about 25 percent in 2004. The 2004 results contradict other relevant data, however, and they contain serious anomalies; this suggests that the apparently dramatic increase in social isolation is an artifact. One possible source of the artifact is the section of the 2004 interview preceding the network question; it may have been unusually taxing. Another possible source is a random technical error. With as yet no clear account for these inconsistencies and anomalies, scholars should be cautious in using the 2004 network data. Scholars and general readers alike should draw no inference from the 2004 GSS as to whether Americans' social networks changed substantially between 1985 and 2004; they probably did not.


2022 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-27
Author(s):  
Alan Keller Gomes ◽  
Kaique Matheus Rodrigues Cunha ◽  
Guilherme Augusto da Silva Ferreira

We present in this paper a novel approach for measuring Bourdieusian Social Capital (BSC) within  Institutional Pages and Profiles. We analyse Facebook's Institutional Pages and Twitter's Institutional Profiles. Supported by Pierre Bourdie's theory, we search for directions to identify and capture data related to sociability practices, i. e. actions performed such as Like, Comment and Share. The system of symbolic exchanges and mutual recognition treated by Pierre Bourdieu is represented and extracted automatically from these data in the form of generalized sequential patterns. In this format, the social interactions captured from each page are represented as sequences of actions. Next, we also use such data to measure the frequency of occurrence of each sequence. From such frequencies, we compute the effective mobilization capacity. Finally, the volume of BSC is computed based on the capacity of effective mobilization, the number of social interactions captured and the number of followers on each page. The results are aligned with Bourdieu's theory. The approach can be generalized to institutional pages or profiles in Online Social Networks.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina Gustavsson ◽  
Ludvig Stendahl

AbstractIs it true that national identity increases trust, as liberal nationalists assume? Recent research has studied this side of the ‘national identity argument’ by focusing on conceptions of the content of national identity (often civic or ethnic) and their links to social, rather than political, trust. This paper argues that if we take social identity theory seriously, however, we need to complement this picture by asking how varying the strength – rather than the content – of a person’s sense of their national identity affects both their social and political trust. We break down the different dimensions of national identity, hypothesizing and empirically verifying that there are divergent links from national attachment, national pride, and national chauvinism to social and political trust. We do so with data from the US (General Social Survey) and the Netherlands (Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences ), thus expanding current knowledge of national identity and trust to a highly relevant yet neglected European case.


2020 ◽  
pp. 016502542097104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise C. Hawkley ◽  
Susanne Buecker ◽  
Till Kaiser ◽  
Maike Luhmann

Prior research in non-U.S. samples has found a complex nonlinear relationship between loneliness and age. This research has shown that established predictors of loneliness—poor health, being unmarried, living alone, and having infrequent social interactions—help to explain age differences in loneliness. However, while some variables were found to be universal predictors of loneliness at all ages, others were relevant in specific age groups only. In this study, we describe age differences in frequency of loneliness from age 18 to 89+ years in the U.S. and examine age differences in predictors of loneliness from age-specificity and age-normative perspectives. We used cross-sectional nationally representative data from the General Social Survey ( N = 2,477) and found a nonlinear relationship between age and loneliness that closely resembles prior research. However, we found no evidence for age-specific predictors of loneliness. Household income, household size, marital status, health, and frequency of socializing were “universal” predictors of loneliness; their associations with loneliness did not differ in strength with age. Our hypothesis that individuals who deviated from age-specific norms would experience more intense loneliness was not supported. Implications for research and loneliness interventions are discussed.


Author(s):  
Tom Elfring ◽  
Kim Klyver ◽  
Elco van Burg

This chapter presents an entrepreneurship-as-networking perspective on opportunity perception, evaluation, and action. Entrepreneurial opportunities are seen as relationally constituted; thus, social networks are a fundamental aspect of all opportunity-related processes. The network ties upon which entrepreneurs can draw largely influence their opportunity perceptions and, conversely, entrepreneurs intentionally shape their networks to get to those opportunities. In opportunity evaluation, the feedback of others is essential to identify an opportunity’s feasibility and desirability. At the same time, these others often engage in shaping and co-creating the opportunities. In opportunity action, entrepreneurs tend to create strong embeddedness by forming their teams and hiring their employees from among their close ties. By discussing the key networking mechanisms of embedding, accessing, transferring, diversifying, and socializing for each of these opportunity-related processes, the authors highlight both the positive and negative generative aspects of the social interactions and social networks in relation to entrepreneurial opportunities.


Author(s):  
Chiho Ok ◽  
Jisun Lim

This article investigates how adolescent Internet addiction is assessed by parents based on children's Internet use time and parental demographic characteristics. The authors measured children's level of Internet addiction based on Young's scale evaluated by their parents to mitigate the social desirability bias in self-reported surveys when children evaluate themselves. Based on Korean General Social Survey data, which is nationally representative in South Korea, they analyzed 219 individuals and found that as the time of Internet use of children increased, the level of Internet addiction evaluated by parents increased. In addition, this relationship was moderated by parental demographic characteristics such that higher age, lower educational attainment, and higher Internet use time tend to decrease the parental evaluation of their children's Internet addiction. Results suggest that policies and programs related to children's Internet addiction should be focused more on parents from specific demographic groups.


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