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This paper argues that organizations with a particular social network structure are more effective than most organizations in responding to crises. Further, it is argued that the effective structure does not occur naturally, but must be designed consciously and carefully. A theory is developed based on well-founded principles of social science, most notably work on formal structure, conflict, friendships, and organizational crises. The paper concludes with an experimental test of one of the four propositions deduced from the theory. Six trials of the experiment found significant support for this proposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we interrelate different theories of identity and describe how various social contexts and cognitive motives influence the process of identity change. We consider two competing theories about the linkage of contexts with motives for identity change: the effect of category traits, based on social identity theory, and the effect of social networks, based on identity theory. To explore these relations, we use data collected on more than 6,000 adolescents at six high schools in two consecutive school years. Multilevel logit models reveal a strong relationship between contexts and perceived identity imbalances, and a strong effect of identity imbalance on identity change. More important than category traits are the social network characteristics of prominence, homogeneity, and bridging; these form social contexts that affect perceptions of identity imbalance, and the perceptions in turn lead to a heightened incidence of identity change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I propose structural criteria for power based only on simple and valid assumptions about how individuals in exchange networks make decisions. The implication of the model is that exchange networks contain four types of components, identified by the solution to a set of equations. In coreless components, the equations are inconsistent and trading behavior is unstable. In strong power components, the equations have a unique solution and some positions have complete power. In equal power components, the equations have a unique solution, and all positions are equal in power. In indeterminate components, the equations have an infinity of solutions and power is not determined strongly by structure. Formal criteria are developed for these four types of components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Network exchange theory has focused on a simple type of exchange structure in which all the exchange relations are equally valuable. In this paper we relax the usual constraint of uniform relations and evaluate the applicability of current theoretical approaches to structures of unequally valued exchange relations. For this evaluation we draw on experiments that entail three variants of mixed relations in four networks. We examine the fit of theoretical predictions and outcomes with respect to the probabilities of exchange transactions and their payoffs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances a line of work on an expected-value model of social exchange, in which a power structure indicates opportunities for exchange and a sample space of exchange networks. When the probability distribution of the networks in this sample space is known, the expected-value model provides an excellent account of the distribution of benefits among actors in a variety of power structures. The model would be more elegant if it also predicted the probability distribution of exchange networks. Furthermore, in its current form, the model fails to account for the observed exchange payoffs in the Kite, a structure that has attracted considerable attention among exchange theorists. Here I advance the expected-value model by deriving the probability distribution of exchange networks from a simple process in which the probability of an exchange at time t depends on the value of an exchange at time t-1. I show that this approach addresses the anomalies posed by the Kite structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural equation models of individual action typically do not take into account the network of interpersonal influence that appears, in virtually all of the fields of social psychology, as an important determinant of individuals' actions. It is not sufficiently appreciated that a proper test of a causal model is placed in jeopardy when this network is ignored. Some research has dealt with methods of estimating the causal impact of a network of interpersonal influences, once such a network has been made a part of a causal model. Hardly any attention, however, has been given to the theoretical foundations and implications of extending the general linear model to encompass a network of interpersonal influences. This paper is concerned with these foundations and implications: its goal is to make the network approach to individual action accessible to a larger audience of sociologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research on intransitive or unbalanced sentiment relations focused on the incidence of intransitivity in triads embedded in a larger social network. The theoretical explanations for in transitivity, however, are directed toward the attitudes and sentiments of an individual rather than toward the structure of triadic configurations and the global properties of groups. This paper argues that intransitivity should be studied at the individual level, with the person experiencing the intransitive relationship as the focus of attention. Analyzing longitudinal data on 2,175 intransitive sentiment triplets from fourth- and fifth-grade students, we show that individuals' personal characteristics and the structural properties of their dyadic and triadic ties affect both their tolerance for in transitivity and the manner in which they resolve intransitive friendships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an exploratory, descriptive study of relationship redefinition. Using symbolic interaction theory, this paper examines the contours of post-dating relationships, asking the following questions: 1) how do people orient themselves to one another after a dating relationship ends?; and, 2) what is the power dynamic between one's social network and his or her post-dating relationship? Using a snowball sample (N = 30), interview data are analyzed as narratives about the respondents' construction of post-dating relationships. Until recently, research has focused on postdivorce relationships and has characterized these as maladaptive (Weiss 1975; Spanier and Casto 1979; Berman 1985). This study joins recent research which suggests that relationships between former spouses or lovers may satisfy legitimate needs such as friendship, shared history, and extended social networks (Metts, Cupach and Bejlovec 1989; Aydintug 1995). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I introduce a new measure of power in exchange networks under substitutable/complementary exchange relations. Although it is derived from a model based on a modification and extension of Coleman's model of collective action, the new measure reflects major characteristics of Emerson and Cook's power-dependence theory, in which power emerges as a result of exchange based on actors' benefit-maximizing actions under network constraints on exchange. In the new measure, an actor's power depends on the number of exchange partners interested in the actor's resource, the extent to which the actor's partners are not interested or are less interested in others' resources than in the actor's, the power of the actor's partners as interdependent correlates, and the consequences of shifts in demand made by the actor's partners under the substitutability/complementarity of exchange relations among their multiple partners. I also show high consistency between power distributions predicted by the new measure and corresponding experimental results by Cook et al. (1983), Yamagishi, Gilmore, and Cook (1988), and Skvoretz and Wilier (1993). Finally, using simulated exchange network data, I derive an enriched set of hypotheses about the structural and relational determinants of power centralization under closely substitutable exchange relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the special issue of the magazine which calls for papers on social network analysis, the psychological foundations of social networks and the social psychological processes.