Personal Network Dynamics: Organizing Principles of Stability and Change from Complex Systems Theory
from IV - New Perspectives
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 October 2021
Research on personal social networks has focused increasingly on their dynamic nature. Social scientists across subfields have offered theories characterizing how, when, and why personal networks evolve, with applications to a range of populations, social conditions, and life course transitions. A persistent theme in this literature is the tension between stasis and adaptation. That is, personal social networks are characterized by remarkable structural stability and uniformity that belies a high degree of turnover at the level of interactions, individuals, and dyads. This chapter leverages core tenets of complex systems theories to provide insight into this paradox, arguing that personal networks operate in much the same way that complex adaptive systems do. In doing so, six organizing principles of personal network stability and change are offered: 1) Personal social networks serve a critical, unified function; 2) Personal networks adapt to dynamic and uncertain environments; 3) Personal networks are comprised of interconnected subgroups that have distinct, but complimentary functions; 4) Personal networks exhibit a hierarchical structure; 5) The structure of personal networks is relatively stable, while network membership is more dynamic and unpredictable; and 6) The dynamics underlying personal networks are nonlinear. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.