Abstract

Social relationships and social networks have significant influence on individuals’ beliefs and behaviors. Through ongoing and dynamic social interactions, individuals connect with similar others and socialize their attributes. Although extensive research has investigated the interdependent changes of social networks and individual attributes, most research has focused on networks of friends. The current study examined and compared the network structural features, social interaction, and social influence between early adolescents’ friend and help networks. Results with longitudinal social network analysis indicated that friend networks were characterized by high density and peer group clusters, while help networks were characterized as loose-knit networks with high centrality. Also, homophily selection was more salient in the friend networks, while the magnitude of social influence did not vary between the two networks. Results underscore that examining structural features of social networks as well as considering different social ties are important for advancing our understanding of social influence processes.