Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-wlg5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T01:10:17.311Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The co-evolution of emotional well-being with weak and strong friendship ties

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2017

TIMON ELMER ,
ZSÓFIA BODA  and
CHRISTOPH STADTFELD
TIMON ELMER
Affiliation:
Chair of Social Networks, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zürich, Switzerland (e-mail: timon.elmer@gess.ethz.ch, zsofia.boda@gess.ethz.ch, christoph.stadtfeld@ethz.ch)
ZSÓFIA BODA
Affiliation:
Chair of Social Networks, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zürich, Switzerland (e-mail: timon.elmer@gess.ethz.ch, zsofia.boda@gess.ethz.ch, christoph.stadtfeld@ethz.ch)
CHRISTOPH STADTFELD
Affiliation:
Chair of Social Networks, Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, ETH Zürich, Switzerland (e-mail: timon.elmer@gess.ethz.ch, zsofia.boda@gess.ethz.ch, christoph.stadtfeld@ethz.ch)
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Social ties are strongly related to well-being. But what characterizes this relationship? This study investigates social mechanisms explaining how social ties affect well-being through social integration and social influence, and how well-being affects social ties through social selection. We hypothesize that highly integrated individuals–those with more extensive and dense friendship networks–report higher emotional well-being than others. Moreover, emotional well-being should be influenced by the well-being of close friends. Finally, well-being should affect friendship selection when individuals prefer others with higher levels of well-being, and others whose well-being is similar to theirs. We test our hypotheses using longitudinal social network and well-being data of 117 individuals living in a graduate housing community. The application of a novel extension of Stochastic Actor-Oriented Models for ordered networks (ordered SAOMs) allows us to detail and test our hypotheses for weak- and strong-tied friendship networks simultaneously. Results do not support our social integration and social influence hypotheses but provide evidence for selection: individuals with higher emotional well-being tend to have more strong-tied friends, and there are homophily processes regarding emotional well-being in strong-tied networks. Our study highlights the two-directional relationship between social ties and well-being, and demonstrates the importance of considering different tie strengths for various social processes.

Keywords

social networksordered stochastic actor-oriented modelsemotional well-beingwell-beingsocial integrationsocial influencesocial selectionweak ties

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Network Science , Volume 5 , Special Issue 3: Networks and Health , September 2017 , pp. 278 - 307
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

References

Aharony, N., Pan, W., Ip, C., Khayal, I., & Pentland, A. (2011). Social fMRI: Investigating and shaping social mechanisms in the real world. Pervasive and Mobile Computing, 7 (6), 643–659.Google Scholar
Alexander, C., Piazza, M., Mekos, D., & Valente, T. (2001). Peers, schools, and adolescent cigarette smoking. Journal of Adolescent Health, 29 (1), 22–30.Google Scholar
Baerveldt, C., Weerm, F., Van Rossem, R., Verman de, M., Weerman, F., & Vermande, M. (2004). Student's delinquency and correlates with strong and weaker ties: A study of students' networks in dutch high schools. Connections, 26 (1), 11–28.Google Scholar
Berkman, L. F., Glass, T., Brissette, I., & Seeman, T. E. (2000). From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. Social Science & Medicine, 51 (6), 843–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berry, D. S., & Hansen, J. S. (1996). Positive affect, negative affect, and social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71 (4), 796–809.Google Scholar
Block, P. (2015). Reciprocity, transitivity, and the mysterious three-cycle. Social Networks, 40, 163–173.Google Scholar
Block, P., & Grund, T. (2014). Multidimensional homophily in friendship networks. Network Science, 2 (2), 189–212.Google Scholar
Brechwald, W. A., & Prinstein, M. J. (2011). Beyond homophily: A decade of advances in understanding peer influence processes. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21 (1), 166–179.Google Scholar
Brissette, I., Cohen, S., & Seeman, T. E. (2000). Measuring social integration and social networks. In Cohen, S., Underwood, L., & Gotlieb, B. (Eds.), Social support measurement and intervention: A guide for health and social scientists (pp. 53–85). New York, US: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Burt, R. S. (1987). A note on strangers, friends and happiness. Social Networks, 9 (4), 311–331.Google Scholar
Carley, K. M., & Krackhardt, D. (1996). Cognitive inconsistencies and non-symmetric friendship. Social Networks, 18 (1), 1–27.Google Scholar
Cohen, S. (2004). Social relationships and health. The American Psychologist, 59 (8), 676–684.Google Scholar
Coleman, J. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94 (1), 95–120.Google Scholar
Cook, W., & Kenny, D. (2005). The actor-partner interdependence model: A model of bidirectional effects in developmental studies. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 29 (2), 101–109.Google Scholar
Coyne, J. C. (1976a). Depression and the response of others. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 85 (2), 186–193.Google Scholar
Coyne, J. C. (1976b). Towards an interactional description of depression. Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes, 39 (1), 28–40.Google Scholar
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (1987). Validity and reliability of the experience-sampling method. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175 (9), 526–536.Google Scholar
Diener, E., & Lucas, R. (2008). Subjective emotional well-being. In Lewis, M., & Haviland, M. G. (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (3rd ed.) (pp. 471–484). New York, US: Guilford.Google Scholar
Diener, E., Ng, W., Harter, J., & Arora, R. (2010). Wealth and happiness across the world: Material prosperity predicts life evaluation, whereas psychosocial prosperity predicts positive feeling. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99 (1), 52–61.Google Scholar
Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125 (2), 276–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dush, C. M. K., & Amato, P. (2005). Consequences of relationship status and quality for subjective well-being. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22 (5), 607–627.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, D., Golberstein, E., Whitlock, J. L., & Downs, M. F. (2013). Social contagion of mental health: Evidence from college roomates. Heath Economics, 22 (8), 965–986.Google Scholar
Ennett, S. T., Bauman, K. E., Hussong, A., Faris, R., Foshee, V. A., Cai, L., & DuRant, R. H. (2006). The peer context of adolescent substance use: Findings from social network analysis. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 16 (2), 159–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falci, C., & McNeely, C. (2009). Too many friends: Social integration, network cohesion and adolescent depressive symptoms. Social Forces, 87 (4), 2031–2061.Google Scholar
Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7 (2), 117–140.Google Scholar
Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 359 (1449), 1367–78.Google Scholar
Friedkin, N. E. (2004). Social Cohesion. Annual Review of Sociology, 30, 409–425.Google Scholar
Fujimoto, K. & Valente, T. W. (2012). Decomposing the components of friendship and friends' influence on adolescent drinking and smoking. Journal of Adolescent Health, 51 (2), 136–143.Google Scholar
Gadassi, R., & Rafaeli, E. (2015). Interpersonal perception as a mediator of the depression-interpersonal difficulties link: A review. Personality and Individual Differences, 87, 1–7.Google Scholar
George, J. M. (1991). State or trait: Effects of positive mood on prosocial behavior at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76 (2), 299–307.Google Scholar
Giletta, M., Scholte, R. H. J., Prinstein, M. J., Engels, R., Rabaglietti, E., & Burk, W. J. (2012). Friendship context matters: Examining the domain specificity of alcohol and depression socialization among adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40 (7), 1027–1043.Google Scholar
Gotlib, I. H. (1983). Perception and recall of interpersonal feedback: Negative bias in depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 7 (5), 399–412.Google Scholar
Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78 (6), 1360–1380.Google Scholar
Granovetter, M. S. (1983). The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited. Sociological Review, 1 (1983), 201–233.Google Scholar
Guan, W., & Kamo, Y. (2015). Contextualizing depressive contagion: A multilevel network approach. Society and Mental Health 6 (2), 129–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helliwell, J. F., & Wang, S. (2011). Trust and wellbeing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 1 (1), 186–188.Google Scholar
Huppert, F. A. (2010). Psychological well-being: Evidence regarding its causes and consequences. Mental Capital and Well-Being, 1 (2), 907–925.Google Scholar
Hussong, A. M. (2002). Differentiating peer contexts and risk for adolescent substance use. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 31 (3), 207–220.Google Scholar
Joiner, T. E., & Katz, J. (1999). Contagion of depressive symptoms and mood: Meta-analytic review and explanations from cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal viewpoints. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice, 6 (1992), 149–164.Google Scholar
Kadushin, C. (1982). Social density and mental health. In Marsden, P., & Lin, N. (Eds.), Social structure and network analysis (pp. 147–158). Beverly Hills, US: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Kahneman, D. (1999). Objective happiness. In Kahneman, D., Diener, E., & Schwarz, N. (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 3–25). New York, US: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Kahneman, D., & Deaton, A. (2010). High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107 (38), 16489–16493.Google Scholar
Kawachi, I., & Berkman, L. F. (2001). Social ties and mental health. Journal of Urban Health, 78 (3), 458–467.Google Scholar
Keyes, C. L. M., Shmotkin, D., & Ryff, C. D. (2002). Optimizing well-being: The empirical encounter of two traditions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82 (6), 1007–1022.Google Scholar
Kiuru, N., Burk, W. J., Laursen, B., Nurmi, J. E., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2012). Is depression contagious? A test of alternative peer socialization mechanisms of depressive symptoms in adolescent peer networks. Journal of Adolescent Health, 50 (3), 250–255.Google Scholar
Latané, B. (1981). The psychology of social impact. American Psychologist, 36 (4), 343–356.Google Scholar
Lin, N., Ye, X., & Ensel, W. M. (1999). Social support and depressed mood: A structural analysis. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 40 (4), 344–359.Google Scholar
Lyubomirsky, S., Tkach, C., & DiMatteo, M. R. (2006). What are the differences between happiness and self-esteem? Social Indicators Research, 78 (3), 363–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McPherson, M., & Smith-Lovin, L. (1987). Homophily in voluntary organizations: Status distance and the composition of face-to-face groups. American Sociological Review, 52 (3), 370.Google Scholar
McPherson, M., Smith-Lovin, L., & Cook, J. M. (2001). Birds of a feather: Homophily in social networks. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 415–444.Google Scholar
Nezlek, J. B., Imbrie, M., & Shean, G. D. (1994). Depression and everyday social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67 (6), 1101–11.Google Scholar
Pachucki, M. C., Ozer, E. J., Barrat, A., & Cattuto, C. (2014). Mental health and social networks in early adolescence: A dynamic study of objectively-measured social interaction behaviors. Social Science & Medicine, 125, 40–50.Google Scholar
Pál, J., Stadtfeld, C., Grow, A. & Takács, K. (2016). Status perceptions matter: Understanding disliking among adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 26 (4), 805–818.Google Scholar
Rashotte, L. (2007). Social influence. In Ritzer, G., & Ryan, J. M. (Eds.), The blackwell encyclopedia of sociology vol. 331 (9th ed.) (pp. 4426–4429). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Reis, H. T., & Gable, S. L. (2000). Event-sampling and other methods for studying everyday experience. In Reis, H. T., & Judd, C. M. (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology. London, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ripley, R. M., Snijders, T. A. B., Boda, Z., Vörös, A., & Preciado, P. (2015). Manual for RSiena. University of Oxford, Department of Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~snijders/siena/RSiena_Manual.pdf on November 9th 2015.Google Scholar
Rose, A. J. (2002). Co-rumination in the friendships of girls and boys. Child Development, 73 (6), 1830–1843.Google Scholar
Schaefer, C., Coyne, J. C., & Lazarus, R. S. (1981). The health-related functions of social support. Journal of Behavioral Medicineehavioral Medicine, 4 (4), 381–406.Google Scholar
Schaefer, D. R., Kornienko, O., & Fox, A. M. (2011). Misery does not love company: Network selection mechanisms and depression homophily. American Sociological Review, 76 (5), 764–785.Google Scholar
Schwarz, N., & Strack, F. (1999). Reports of subjective well-being: Judgmental processes and their methodological implications. In Kahneman, D., Diener, E., & Schwarz, N. (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology. New York, US: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Schweinberger, M. (2012). Statistical modelling of network panel data: Goodness of fit. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 65 (2), 263–281.Google Scholar
Segrin, C. (2000). Social skills deficits associated with depression. Clinical Psychology Review, 20 (3), 379–403.Google Scholar
Shalizi, C. R., & Thomas, A. C. (2011). Homophily and contagion are generically confounded in observational social network studies. Sociological Methods Research, 40 (2), 211–239.Google Scholar
Snijders, T. A. B. (2001). The statistical evaluation of social network dynamics. In Sobel, M. E., & Becker, M. P. (Eds.), Sociological methodology, vol. 31 (pp. 361–395). Boston, US: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Snijders, T. A. B., Lomi, A., & Torló, V. (2013). A model for the multiplex dynamics of two-mode and one-mode networks, with an application to employment preference, friendship, and advice. Social Networks, 35 (2), 265–276.Google Scholar
Snijders, T. A. B., van de Bunt, G. G., & Steglich, C. E. G. (2010). Introduction to stochastic actor-based models for network dynamics. Social Networks, 32 (1), 44–60.Google Scholar
Stadtfeld, C., & Pentland, A. (2015). Partnership ties shape friendship networks: A dynamic social network study. Social Forces, 94 (1), 1–25.Google Scholar
Stadtfeld, C., Snijders, T. A. B., Steglich, C., & van Duijn, M. A. J. (2017). Statistical power in longitudinal network studies. Working Paper No. 1701.05177. Retrieved from http://arxiv.org/abs/1701.05177.Google Scholar
Steglich, C., Snijders, T. A. B., & Pearson, M. (2010). Dynamic networks and behavior: Separating selection from influence. Sociological Methodology, 40 (1), 329–393.Google Scholar
Swallow, S. R., & Kuiper, N. A. (1988). Social comparison and negative self-evaluations: An application to depression. Clinical Psychology Review, 8 (1), 55–76.Google Scholar
Thoits, P. (2011). Mechanisms linking social ties and support to physical and mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 52 (2), 145–161.Google Scholar
Ueno, K. (2005). The effects of friendship networks on adolescent depressive symptoms. Social Science Research, 34 (3), 484–510.Google Scholar
Umberson, D., Chen, M. D., Houe, J. S., Hopkins, K., & Slaten, E. (1996). The effect of social relationships on psychological well-being: Are men and women really so different? American Sociological Review, 61 (5), 837–857.Google Scholar
Urberg, K., Değirmencioğlu, S. M., & Pilgrim, C. (1997). Close friend and group influence on adolescent cigarette smoking and alcohol use. Developmental Psychology, 33 (5), 834–844.Google Scholar
Uzzi, B. (1999). Embeddedness in the making of financial capital: How social relations and networks benefit firms seeking financing. American Sociological Review, 64 (4), 481.Google Scholar
van Workum, N., Scholte, R., Cillessen, A., Lodder, G., & Giletta, M. (2013). Selection, deselection, and socialization processes of happiness in adolescent friendship networks. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 23 (3), 563–573.Google Scholar
van Zalk, M. H. W., Kerr, M., Branje, S. J. T., Stattin, H., & Meeus, W. H. J. (2010a). It takes three: Selection, influence, and de-selection processes of depression in adolescent friendship networks. Developmental Psychology, 46 (4), 927–938.Google Scholar
van Zalk, M. H. W., Kerr, M., Branje, S. J. T., Stattin, H., & Meeus, W. H. J. (2010b). Peer contagion and adolescent depression: The role of failure anticipation. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 39 (6), 837–848.Google Scholar
Walker, R., Luszcz, M., Gerstorf, D., & Hoppmann, C. (2011). Subjective well-being dynamics in couples from the Australian longitudinal study of aging. Gerontology, 57 (2), 153–160.Google Scholar
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Carey, G. (1988b). Positive and negative affectivity and their relation to anxiety and depressive disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97 (3), 346–353.Google Scholar
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988a). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54 (6), 1063–1070.Google Scholar
Watson, D., & Tellegen, A. (2002). Aggregation, acquiescence, and the assessment of trait affectivity. Journal of Research in Personality, 36 (6), 589–597.Google Scholar
World Health Organisation. (2003). Investing in Mental Health. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar