Network Studies of Social Influence

Network analysts interested in social influence examine the social foundations for influence—the social relations that provide a basis for the alteration of an attitude or behavior by one network actor in response to another. This article contrasts two empirical accounts of social influence (structural cohesion and equivalence) and describes the social processes (e.g., identification, competition, and authority) presumed to undergird them. It then reviews mathematical models of influence processes involving networks and related statistical models used in data analysis. Particular attention is given to the “network effects” model. A number of empirical studies of social influence are reviewed. The article concludes by identifying several problems of specification, research design, and measurement and suggesting some research that would help to resolve these problems.

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