No Longer Discrete:Modeling the Dynamics of Social Networks and Continuous Behavior

The dynamics of individual behavior are related to the dynamics of the social structures in which individuals are embedded. This implies that in order to study social mechanisms such as social selection or peer influence, we need to model the evolution of social networks and the attributes of network actors as interdependent processes. The stochastic actor-oriented model is a statistical approach to study network-attribute coevolution based on longitudinal data. In its standard specification, the coevolving actor attributes are assumed to be measured on an ordinal categorical scale. Continuous variables first need to be discretized to fit into such a modeling framework. This article presents an extension of the stochastic actor-oriented model that does away with this restriction by using a stochastic differential equation to model the evolution of a continuous attribute. We propose a measure for explained variance and give an interpretation of parameter sizes. The proposed method is illustrated by a study of the relationship between friendship, alcohol consumption, and self-esteem among adolescents

Network selection and influence effects on children's and adolescents’ internalizing behaviors and peer victimization:A systematic review

In interpersonal models of developmental psychopathology, friendships and affiliations with peers have been considered as both consequences and determinants of children's and adolescents’ internalizing behaviors and peer victimization. Longitudinal stochastic actor-oriented models (SAOMs) allow developmental researchers to disentangle peer selection processes where children or adolescents choose friends who are similar to themselves in internalizing behaviors or peer victimization from peer influence processes where children or adolescents become more similar to their friends over time in internalizing behaviors or peer victimization. This paper highlights the methods and results from a systematic review that screened 1447 empirical articles and located 28 using SAOMs to understand the interplay between peer social networks and internalizing behaviors or peer victimization. The results provide some evidence for both peer selection and influence related to depression, social anxiety, and peer victimization. Additionally, the results provide insight into directions for additional substantive and methodological research. Based on the findings of this review, future research is recommended that considers specific tests of peer selection and influence mechanisms, developmental and gender differences, individual and contextual moderators, multiplex relationships, methodological quality, and direct replication of prior studies

Bridging the Gaps: Connecting Research Streams in Organizational Network Research

Apart from an introduction and conclusion, the present dissertation consists of four chapters in the form of three research papers and one essay. Each of these chapters revolves around organizational networks and attempts to bring research streams together that deal with the same – or similar – phenomena, yet are largely disjunct. In that sense, each chapter is attempting to bridge gaps. The first of these chapters investigates partner selection in business ecosystems and brings together the ecosystem and network literature. Second is an essay which introduces four new effects to a popular method for analyzing network dynamics, bringing together management science and mathematics. Third is a research paper analyzing the interdependence between corporate strategic actions and board interlock networks, bringing together the antecedents and outcomes of the latter. And finally, the fourth of these chapters brings together director- and firm-level research on board interlock networks by estimating the formation of such a network when introducing both levels into a stochastic model. The dissertation advances our understanding of organizational networks and the methods we can use to learn about them