Stability of dyadic exchange: Experimental evidence for the impact of shared group membership

Zbigniew Karpiński; Adam Kęska; Dariusz Przybysz; John Skvoretz

doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2023.102940

Stability of dyadic exchange: Experimental evidence for the impact of shared group membership

Soc Sci Res. 2023 Nov:116:102940. doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2023.102940. Epub 2023 Oct 13.

Authors

Zbigniew Karpiński¹, Adam Kęska², Dariusz Przybysz³, John Skvoretz⁴

Affiliations

¹ The Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland. Electronic address: zbigniew.karpinski@startmail.com.
² The Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland. Electronic address: keskaa@is.uw.edu.pl.
³ The Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland. Electronic address: przybysz@ifispan.edu.pl.
⁴ University of South Florida, USA. Electronic address: jskvoretz@usf.edu.

PMID: 37981396
DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2023.102940

Abstract

Pair stability refers to the extent to which exchange occurs between the same actors over time. In a stable pair, actors know what to expect of one another and have a sense of predictability as to the outcome of the exchange. When actors are split into discrete groups, shared group membership contributes to formation of new ties and maintenance of existing ties due to the mechanism of attraction to similar others. Using the formal framework of biased net theory, we propose three hypotheses which link shared group membership with the odds of pair stability. These hypotheses are tested against data from an experiment (N = 180) in which participants were first split into two groups and then given a series of opportunities to share resources with one another. Results of the experiment are consistent with the hypotheses.

Keywords: Attraction to similar others; Biased net theory; Exchange; Homophily; Pair stability.

MeSH terms

Group Processes*
Humans