Homophily and Social Capital in a Network of Religious Congregations
This article investigates the relationship between homophily, the tendency for relationships to be more common among similar actors, and social capital in a social network of religious congregations from eight counties encompassing and surrounding a major metropolitan area in the southeastern United...
| Published in: | Religions |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
MDPI
2021
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| In: |
Religions
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| Further subjects: | B
Social Capital
B structural holes B Social Networks B Religious congregations B Religious Tradition B network closure B Race B religious family B inter-organizational networks B homophily |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This article investigates the relationship between homophily, the tendency for relationships to be more common among similar actors, and social capital in a social network of religious congregations from eight counties encompassing and surrounding a major metropolitan area in the southeastern United States. This network is inter-congregational, consisting of congregations and the relationships between them. Two types of social capital are investigated: the first involves the extent to which congregations bridge across structural holes, or bridge together otherwise disconnected congregations within the network; secondly, network closure involves the extent to which congregations are embedded in tight-knit clusters. Analyses use two types of homophily (religious and racial) to predict both outcomes, and they test linear and curvilinear relationships between both forms of homophily and the outcomes. Results indicate that congregations with moderate levels of religious homophily are more likely to bridge between otherwise disconnected congregations; however, congregations with low or high religious homophily as well as congregations with high racial homophily are more likely to be embedded in tight-knit relational clusters. This article contributes additional social network research on congregations and evidence of curvilinear relationships between homophily and social capital to the fields of social network analysis and sociology of religion. |
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| ISSN: | 2077-1444 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.3390/rel12080653 |