Structural Determinants of Men's and Women's Personal Networks
Abstract
Men's and women's personal networks often differ in composition, with women's more focused on family and men's on nonkin, especially coworkers. Using data from the 1985 General Social Survey, I find that these gender differences arise in part from dissimilar social structural locations of men and women, which lead to distinct opportunities for and constraints on the formation of close personal ties. Most gender differences in network composition disappear or are considerably reduced when variables related to employment, family, and age are controlled. However, some gender differences remain. Women have a larger number, higher proportion, and greater diversity of kin ties in their personal networks than men, even when compared with men in similar social structural positions.
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Our study confirms social association is developed through gender roles of maintaining social ties with close-knit kin and other social relationships.
“As shown in prior literature [53, 54] our study also confirms that such social association is developed through gender roles of maintaining social ties with close-knit kin (natal and consanguineous kin) [55] and another type of social relationships (neighbours and friends) [56].”
From The gendered experience with respect to health-seeking behaviour in an urban slum of Kolkata, India (2018) · cites this paper as [56]
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- Authors
- Moore, G.
- Corresponding author
- Moore, Gwen
- ORCID
- Moore, Gwen
- Venue
- American Sociological Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1990-10
- Volume
- 55
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 726
- ISSN
- 0003-1224 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2001235058
- Cited by
- 930
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 78 · 2020: 32 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 37 · 2016: 43 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 52 · 2013: 46 · 2012: 39
- FWCI
- 16.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Sociological Review (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Capital and Networks
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
- Keywords
- gender differences, personal networks, social networks, kinship ties, family ties, network composition
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