Doctoral Dissertation Research, Resource Variation in Social Exchange Networks: The Effects of Duplicability and Transferability on the Use of Power

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This project introduces resource characteristics as a fundamental component of exchange affecting the mechanisms that produce power in networks. Previous research has not considered how resource characteristics can vary and possible implications for exchange processes and outcomes. Duplicability - whether a resource can be copied - and transferability - whether resources received from one exchange partner can be passed on to another partner - are identified as fundamental resource dimensions which have implications for the variety of resources actors are able to acquire and their ability to use power during acquisition. Variations on these resource characteristics have been utilized in social exchange and social network research, however no systematic comparison of the implications of resource variation has been conducted. Predictions about the level of power use are made based upon insights from the social exchange and social network traditions. Approximately 160 subjects will participate in a computerized exchange experiment in the Social Interaction Laboratory in the Sociology Department at the University of Arizona. The 2x2 factorial design crosses duplicability with transferability such that a different resource type is exchanged in each condition. The experiment are designed to show how resource type influences the relative advantage of positions in a network as well as overall power usage in the network. By integrating two theoretical traditions the proposed research can expand the scope of theory and research on social exchange as well as provide social network theorists with insight to how the behavior of actors affects the flow of resources through networks. Broader impacts: This research will be of interest to scholars and students interested in understanding observed differences in power dynamics across communication, exchange, and influence networks. The results of this project will be published in academic journals and at the social networks conference and group processes conference.