Abstract

MAYA JARIEGO, Isidro; HOLGADO RAMOS, Daniel  and  LUBBERS, Miranda J.. Effects of the Structure of Personal Networks in the Acquaintances Network of a Cohort of Students in Transition from High School to University. Univ. Psychol. [online]. 2018, vol.17, n.1, pp.123-134. ISSN 1657-9267.  https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.upsy17-1.eerp.

In this work the normative transition of a cohort of secondary school students from Alcalá de Guadaíra that start college education in Seville is examined. The evolution of the social network of the cohort of students together with the changes experienced in the composition and structure of their personal networks is analyzed. The longitudinal tracking is developed over 17 months when respondents (n = 57) begin to distribute their time between the town in which they live and the city where they study, so there is an increase in the frequency of commuting to the capital. This is one of the first studies collecting information from the personal networks of the members of a complete social network, and combining both personal and sociocentric indicators in the analysis. With models for the longitudinal analysis of social networks, using the RSIENA software, we found that average betweenness of personal networks has a significant effect on the social network of students completing secondary education. The average betweenness also seems to influence the change rate in the sense of community with the city of residence. We conclude by proposing that the decoupling of relations, as well as active competition between multiple relationships, are two key mechanisms of changes in the structure of personal networks in the process of ecological transition.

Keywords : ecological transitions; commuting; personal networks; social networks; social networks longitudinal simulation; RSIENA.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )