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The interorganizational relationship communication literature has identified homophily – the tendency for actors to form ties with similar others – as a mechanism predictive of tie formation among organizations in civil society networks. This study examined the connection between homophily and network structures equated with different types of social capital and perceptions of influence. Using survey data gathered from a network of Malaysian civil society organizations (n = 90), exponential random graph models and autologistic actor attribute models were used to test the association between homophily characteristics and the networked social capital positions of bridging, bonding, and gatekeeping. Results showed that bonders and brokers tended to be influenced by homophily, whereas gatekeepers were influenced by heterophily and homophily. Homophily was also associated with the likelihood of CSOs rating each other as more influential on government reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distinctiveness theory suggests that numeric rarity is correlated with stronger homophily. In this paper, we examine this theory by studying gender homophily in social networks of older adults. We document subjective social networks in multiple long term care settings for older adults over several time points. Homophily for each gender is estimated using exponential random graph models. We find evidence for positive homophily across all networks, and show that it is correlated to the magnitude of the female majority or male minority. Our findings empirically verify distinctiveness theory and could improve interventions to promote tie formation in social networks. • Studied social networks of older adults' long term care settings at various times. • Gender homophily estimated in each network using ERGM to control for other factors. • Homophily correlated with gender distribution, supporting Distinctiveness theory. • No differences found between two types of older adult long term care settings. • Discarded additional alternative explanation of gender homophily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does international financial aid affect the cooperative behavior of local non-governmental organizations (NGOs)? Can NGOs, while turning global, preserve peer connections with local actors and be engaged in local issues? The civil society literature contains competing perspectives on and reports of how international financial aid may restructure local civic networks. Some scholars argue that international support comes at the expense of local integration as inclusion in global networks takes local NGOs out of the local context, while others find evidence that organizations do not have to face "a forced choice", and may well be integrated both globally and locally. Drawing on this scholarship, we examine two hypotheses on how transnational funding influences cooperation patterns among NGOs. The hierarchy argument states that public entities tend to cooperate with internationally funded NGOs as external contact signals quality and trustworthiness. The segregation argument, on the contrary, suggests financial homophily according to which organizations are more likely to choose peers similar in sources of funding. To test these hypotheses, we apply Exponential Random Graph Models to the data on cooperation among 221 Kazakhstani NGOs. Results support the segregation hypothesis implying that NGOs are likely to have a bias towards similarly funded peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In sustainability science, interdisciplinarity, i.e., the integration of perspectives from different disciplines, is built collectively from interactions among researchers of various disciplines ("collective interdisciplinarity") but also results from the fact that researchers have backgrounds in multiple disciplines ("individual interdisciplinarity"). We applied social network analysis tools to analyze how individual interdisciplinarity influences collective interdisciplinarity, using the case of a forest sustainability science group. We hypothesized that researchers with higher individual interdisciplinarity had more interdisciplinary interactions and were interdisciplinary brokers within the group. We first analyzed individual interdisciplinarity using a bipartite network of researchers and disciplines. We then analyzed networks of management, research, and publication interactions among researchers in the research group. This showed how disciplines influenced interactions and how researchers contributed to interdisciplinary interactions and brokerage. Results of the first analysis identified large disciplinary communities in the center of the bipartite network, whereas smaller ones were more distant. The second analysis highlighted disciplinary homophily in interaction networks, as two researchers interacted more if they were from the same disciplinary community. Results also showed that the interactions among researchers were structured not only by disciplinary homophily, but also by other forms of homophily related to location or region of work. The key brokers of interactions across disciplinary communities were distributed across several communities, showing that brokerage was not controlled by the large, dominant communities. Analysis of correlations between individual interdisciplinarity and contributions to collective interdisciplinarity did not support our hypothesis but rather hinted at the alternative hypothesis that researchers with high individual interdisciplinarity interacted less with other disciplinary communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Stigma is a social process of active group boundary maintenance. • Structural stigma can be conceptualized by the absence of a network statistic. • The ERGM framework can quantify the strength of structural stigma. • A framework for understanding coefficient impact via network perturbation is introduced. A rich literature has explored the modeling of homophily and other forms of nonuniform mixing associated with individual-level covariates within the exponential family random graph (ERGM) framework. Such differential mixing does not fully explain phenomena such as stigma, however, which involve the active maintenance of social boundaries by ostracism of persons with out-group ties. Here, we introduce a new family of statistics that allows for such effects to be captured, making it possible to probe for the potential presence of boundary maintenance above and beyond simple differences in nomination rates. We demonstrate these statistics in the context of gender segregation in a school classroom, and introduce a framework for understanding the associated coefficients via network perturbation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Ties between MPs and interest groups matter for MPs legislative activities. • MPs with ties to similar types of interest groups are more likely to co-sponsor their respective proposals. • The same holds for MPs with ties to groups active in the same policy domain. • These findings have important implications for representative democracy. Abstract This article investigates whether linkages between members of parliament (MPs) and interest groups influence MPs' activities of co-sponsoring legislative proposals. Based on statistical models for network data, the study builds on classical explanations of co-sponsorships highlighting the role of similar ties between MPs, such as party membership, legislative committee assignments, electoral district or gender. It shows that, on top of these traditional forms of homophily, MPs' ties to interest groups matter as well. MPs with ties to a similar type of interest groups are more likely to co-sponsor their respective proposals. The same holds for MPs with ties to groups active in the same policy domain. These findings have implications for the study of groups' lobbying, legislative behaviour and representative democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social networks have an important effect on health, and social network analysis has become essential for understanding human behavior and vulnerability. Using exponential random graph models (ERGM), this study explores the associations between mental health and network structure (or more specifically, mental health homophily) and the association between poor mental health and social isolation. Two classes of Romanian adolescents aged 12-14 years participated in the study (n = 26 in each class). We assessed school network, sociodemographic covariates, and mental health using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). ERGM was first used to test the presence of sex and mental health homophily and then to test whether mental health was a predictor of social isolation. The results showed homophily patterns regarding sex and mental health. Moreover, participants with a higher SDQ score had a lower probability of a tie. Overall, this study showed how social networks are structured with different forms of homophily and that adolescents with poor mental health are more likely to be social isolates. Thus, prevention and interventions should focus on these vulnerable adolescents. Methodological advances like ERGM constitute a promising avenue for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital traces of U.S. members of congress on Twitter enable researchers to observe how these public officials interact with one another in a direct and unobtrusive manner. Using data from Twitter and other sources (e.g., roll-call vote data), this study aims to examine how members of congress connect and communicate with one another on Twitter, why they will connect and communicate with one another in such a way, and what effects such connection and communication among members of congress have on their floor vote behavior. The follower-followee and communication networks of members of congress on Twitter demonstrate a high degree of partisan homogeneity. Members of congress prefer to follow or communicate with other members who are similar to them in terms of partisanship, home state, chamber, and public concern. This condition is known as the homophily effect in social network research. However, the magnitude of the homophily effect is mitigated when the effects of endogenous networking mechanisms (i.e., reciprocity and triadic closure) in such networks are controlled. Follower-followee ties can facilitate political discourse among members of congress on Twitter, whereas both follower-followee and communication ties on Twitter increase the likelihood of vote agreement among members of congress. The theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the findings are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the Internet, the line between news and opinion becomes blurred in terms of content and form. In this sense, the processes of news diffusion on the Internet and online public opinion formation are integrated. This study selects one Korean example about the private tweet of a judge about government social network service (SNS) regulation and analyzes citation networks from one news/opinion to another news/opinion. By relying on social network analysis (SNA) methods, this study examines how news/opinions diffuse and how they interact and influence each other's ideological frame within agencies sharing the same ideology and between agencies whose ideologies contrast. The results show that public discourse on the Internet is clearly polarized and fragmented along political ideological lines. Additionally, the findings show that the winner is the conservative bloc because it succeeds in achieving within-bloc solidarity and ensures the resonance of news frames with the cultural values of Korean society. Implications for these findings in modern democracy are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reveals the roles of three tie-generative mechanisms, namely, assortative mixing, preferential attachment, and triadic closure, in forming citation links in journals through the exponential random graph modeling approach. The study also adopts a longitudinal design to examine how the roles of the three mechanisms evolve over time. The data involve citation exchanges in Internet research among 680 journals in 12 subject areas from 2000 to 2013. Assortative mixing by discipline and publication foci is a significant tie-generative mechanism in journal citation networks. The magnitude of assortative mixing by discipline remains stable over time, whereas that by publication foci declines over time. Journals in Internet research demonstrate an increasing preference for influential journals to form citation links over time. The indegree of journals does not exert a significant impact on citation link formation among journals, whereas the outdegree of journals imposes a significantly negative impact on citation link formation among journals. Triadic closure is an important force that facilitates the formation of citation links among journals. The findings of this study improve our knowledge of the organizing principles that underlie journal citation networks and advance our understanding of the production process of scientific knowledge in Internet research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]