Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Quarter, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK.
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Radcliffe Quarter, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK; Hochschule des Bundes, Fachbereich Sozialversicherung, Rohrdamm 22, 13629 Berlin, Germany.
Adv Life Course Res. 2024 Sep;61:100632. doi: 10.1016/j.alcr.2024.100632. Epub 2024 Jul 29.
While social networks are typically relatively stable in size over time, major changes in life circumstances can result in opportunities to acquire new friends. How young adults manage their relationships with their wider network of friends and family during such transitions is, however, not well understood. Using a prospective longitudinal design, we investigate changes in the size and composition of complete egocentric networks of two cohorts of young adults moving away from home to college. We show that, although networks grow rapidly due to an influx of new friends made at college, the social overload that would result is partially mitigated through the progressive loss of pre-transition friendships (but not family relationships). In addition, most of the new relationships are placed in the outermost, emotionally less close network layers that are less costly to maintain. In contrast, the more intimate inner layers of the network remain stable in size, with efforts being made to conserve these relationships. The overriding importance of face-to-face interaction in creating and maintaining ties (compared to digital media) results in the emotional quality of a tie being traded off against the constraints imposed by physical distance. The most reliable predictor of the proportion of original members with whom relationships were maintained post-transition was pre-transition network size, with weaker effects due to geographical proximity and personal popularity in the new social context. These findings have implications for managing transitions to a new environment at any life stage.
虽然社交网络在时间上通常相对稳定，但生活环境的重大变化可能会为结交新朋友提供机会。然而，人们对于年轻人在这种转变期间如何管理他们与更广泛的朋友和家人网络的关系还不太了解。本研究使用前瞻性纵向设计，调查了两个离开家去上大学的年轻人群体的完整自我中心网络的大小和组成的变化。研究表明，尽管由于在大学结交新朋友，网络迅速增长，但通过逐步失去过渡前的友谊（但不是家庭关系），可以部分缓解由此产生的社交过载。此外，大多数新的关系都处于最外层，情感上不太亲密的网络层，维护这些关系的成本较低。相比之下，网络的更亲密的内部层保持稳定的大小，努力维持这些关系。与数字媒体相比，面对面互动在建立和维持关系方面的重要性（与数字媒体相比）导致关系的情感质量与物理距离所施加的限制相权衡。过渡后与关系保持的原始成员比例最相关的预测指标是过渡前的网络规模，而在新的社会环境中，由于地理位置接近和个人知名度的影响较小。这些发现对管理任何人生阶段向新环境的过渡都有影响。
