Social Networks and Relationship Stability

社会网络与关系稳定性在过去的50年里，美国的婚姻和家庭生活经历了巨大的变化。除了美国人现在比以往任何时候都更晚结婚这一事实，年轻成年现在的特点是一个更复杂的过程，其中包括远离家人和大学的生活安排。与其他发达国家相比，美国夫妇的离婚率也更高，夫妻稳定性也更差。对于这项研究来说，最重要的是，通过传统的个人网络(例如，家庭、社区、工作)形成的关系较少。这个项目解决了以下基本问题：(1)无论关系是在什么背景下发展起来的，关系持续的可能性是一样的吗？(2)个人因素、个人网络和社会背景如何决定关系持续的可能性？之前的一项研究收集了具有全国代表性的调查数据(针对美国成年人)，内容是夫妻如何相遇。这里提出的后续研究将确定之前接受采访的夫妇是否一直在一起，并确定影响关系稳定性的因素。更广泛的影响家庭和关系的稳定是公众、学者和政策制定者非常感兴趣的话题。这项研究的发现可以帮助我们理解影响夫妻分手趋势的个人和背景因素。这在公共话语中是一个相当有争议的话题，但之前没有足够的数据。该项目还将产生一个可供其他研究人员通过斯坦福大学网站查阅的最新公开数据集；它可用于培训本科生和研究生有关调查方法和数据分析的知识。

SES-1153867Michael RosenfeldStanford UniversityAbstractSocial Networks and Relationship Stability Marriage and family life in the United States have undergone significant changes in the past 50 years. In addition to the fact that Americans are now marrying later than ever before, young adulthood is now marked by a more complex process that includes living arrangements away from family and college. Compared to other developed countries, American couples also have higher divorce rates and less couple stability. Most important for this study, fewer relationships are formed via traditional personal networks (e.g., family, community, work). This project addresses the following fundamental questions: (1) Are relationships equally likely to last, regardless of the context in which they evolved? (2) How do individual factors, as well as personal networks and the social context shape the odds that relationships last? A previous study gathered nationally representative survey data (of U.S. adults) on how couples meet. The follow-up study proposed here will determine whether the couples previously interviewed have stayed together, and determine the factors influencing relationship stability. Broader ImpactsFamily and relationship stability is a topic of great interest to the general public, scholars, and policy makers. Findings derived from this study could help us understand the individual and contextual factors that shape trends regarding couple dissolution. This is a subject of considerable debate in public discourse, but for which there has previously been insufficient data. The project also will also result in an updated publically available dataset accessible to other researchers via the Stanford University website; it can been used to train undergraduate and graduate students in survey methods and data analysis.