Social Structure Effects on Emotional Experience (Interpersonal Relationships, Coping)
Jolly, Elizabeth Ann
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/69685
Description
Title
Social Structure Effects on Emotional Experience (Interpersonal Relationships, Coping)
Author(s)
Jolly, Elizabeth Ann
Issue Date
1987
Department of Study
Psychology
Discipline
Psychology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Psychology, Social
Abstract
A model was proposed in which social structure influences daily emotional experience through the mediating impact of cognitive self-representations and/or qualities of the dyadic relationships that constitute a person's social network. Social network methodology was used to characterize social structure and dyadic relationships. Linville's (1985) trait and role sort measures of self-complexity were used to index self-representations. Experience-sampling of emotions yielded measures of the intensity, variability, frequency and mean of positive and negative emotion over 21 days. The major hypotheses were that a person with a densely interconnected network would have more frequent social contact, fewer socially complex relationships, a narrower range of feelings associated with each relationship, a less complex self-view, and more intense emotional experience over time.
Overall, results supported the model in that various structural aspects of the social environment were associated with particular kinds of social relationships and daily emotional experience. Emotional experience depended primarily on what went on within dyadic relationships. However, network structure appeared to "constrain" the dyadic relationships within the network. The ways in which network structure constrained dyadic relationships depended on the role-related subsection of the network, e.g., whether the relationship context was kinship or friendship.
Contrary to expectations, people in dense networks had more complex relationships and a wider range of feelings associated with their relationships. This social and emotional complexity led to more intense emotional experience over time. Relationship complexity and frequency of contact moderated the association between social network density and emotional intensity, but self-complexity did not. Membership in a dense network per se appeared to dampen emotional experience, but in dense networks people tended to have complex relationships and frequent social contact, both of which produced intense positive and negative emotional experience. Results for the overall network were replicated for peers but not for kin. A dense kin network was associated with negative feelings about relationships and fewer complex kin relationships which led to intense negative emotional experience and higher psychopathological symptomatology. The differing functions of peer and kin relationships are discussed.
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.
