The Role Of Social Status In Negative Tie Formation

Abstract

This paper explores the question of how social status influences negative tie formation. Although previous literature in network scholarship has identified the role of social status in tie formation, it has mainly focused on the presence and the absence of positive ties such as friendship and exchange partnership as outcomes. However, another possible significant outcome has been neglected, namely the creation of negative ties. This relative neglect of negative ties has limited the understanding of status claims and network dynamics. In the current paper, I develop and test sets of competing possibilities about the role of status in the formation of negative ties. In using original 56 distinct social networks with negative tie data, I find that social status plays an important role in negative tie formation. In particular, I find that negative ties occur disproportionately from individuals of higher status and are directed towards individuals of lower status. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.