Social Stratification in Personal Networks

This study examines whether personal network is the visible manifestation of social stratification and tests the neighborhood-level stratification factors as well as individual characteristics are related to the magnitude of social networks. The focus of this study is the functional forms of social network: bonding, bridging, and linking. Empirical tests were conducted using data from Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey (SCCBS) in the U.S. with sample size of 29,203. Data analyses demonstrated statistically significant differences in social network measures by age, gender, race or ethnicity, SES, and other demographic characteristics. In particular, socioeconomic status was the most significant factor related to the level of bonding, bridging, and linking network. Complex relationships with individual characteristics indicated that social network measures was not in uniformity nor had one dominant form. This study also found associations between neighborhood poverty/income ineqaulity and bridging network, and this showed that deinstitutionalization and inequality may affect negatively the formation of valuable bridges.