Core Networks and Tie Activation: What Kinds of Routine Networks Allocate Resources in Nonroutine Situations?

Abstract

Social resources research has linked activated ties to outcomes—but not to the core networks from which the ties came. This study shifts the focus to the question of how networks allocate resources. The activation of core network ties is analyzed in a nonroutine situation—a hurricane—to determine how core network structure affects the degree to which individuals activate core network ties to gain one type of social resource—informal support. Results show that the structures of individuals’ core networks affect the degree to which individuals activate ties from those networks to gain informal support. Individuals embedded in higher-density core networks (i.e., alters are connected to one another), core networks with more gender diversity (i.e., a mix of men and women), and networks that contain higher proportions of men, kin, and younger individuals, activated core network ties for informal support to a greater degree than did individuals embedded in core networks lacking these characteristics. The conclusions consider the study's implications for understanding resource activation in the contexts of social support and job searches.