Group differences in reciprocity, multiplexity and exchange: Measures and application

Local forces structure social networks. One major and widely researched local force is reciprocity, often assumed to work homogeneously across actors-i. e., all actors are equally subject to the same level of force towards reciprocity. Other local forces, like multiplexity and exchange, are also often assumed to apply equally to different actors. But social theory provides us with ample arguments why such forces might be stronger in some subsets of actors than others, or why such forces might affect intergroup ties more than intragroup ties. In this paper we introduce standard measures to capture these group specific forces towards reciprocity, multiplexity, and exchange. All the measures control for differential tendencies of actors to initiate ties of various types. We also introduce a procedure by which differences in the strength of these forces between groups and subgroups can be statistically evaluated. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V