Friendship selection and friends' influence. Dynamics of networks and actor attributes in early adolescence

Abstract

Adolescent friends are often found to be similar. Similarity can be caused by selection and influence processes. This book examines selection and influence processes for delinquency, school attitudes, and alcohol use in early adolescence. For selection processes, we hypothesize that adolescents whose attributes are positively associated tend to become and stay friends. For influence processes, we hypothesize that adolescents tend to adjust their attributes to their friends' attributes. We analyze longitudinal data of students in Dutch secondary school, employing innovative actor-driven stochastic models that account for the dynamics of networks and actor attributes. These models are implemented in the SIENA software (Simulation Investigation for Empirical Network Analysis). Our results reveal that the importance of selection and influence processes differ for the attributes. Behaviors such as delinquency and alcohol use are more important for selection than attitudes such as those related to school behavior. We find hardly any evidence for social influence processes among friends. There is inconclusive evidence that alcohol use is affected by friends' alcohol use.