Abstract
Heider’s balance theory is ubiquitous in the field of social networks as an explanation for why we so frequently observe symmetry and transitivity in social relations. We propose that Simmelian tie theory could explain the same phenomena without resorting to motivational tautologies that characterize psychological explanations. Further, while both theories predict the same equilibrium state, we argue that they suggest different processes by which this equilibrium is reached. We develop a dynamic exponential random graph model (ERGM) and apply it to the classic panel data collected by Newcomb to empirically explore these two theories. We find strong evidence that Simmelian triads exist and are stable beyond what would be expected through Heiderian tendencies in the data.
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Krackhardt, D., Handcock, M.S. (2007). Heider vs Simmel: Emergent Features in Dynamic Structures. In: Airoldi, E., Blei, D.M., Fienberg, S.E., Goldenberg, A., Xing, E.P., Zheng, A.X. (eds) Statistical Network Analysis: Models, Issues, and New Directions. ICML 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4503. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73133-7_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73133-7_2
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