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Multilevel structural evaluation of signed directed social networks based on balance theory
Samin Aref1, Ly Dinh2, Rezvaneh Rezapour3
1Laboratory of Digital and Computational Demography, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, 18057, Rostock, Germany. aref@demogr.mpg.de.
Scientific Reports
|September 18, 2020
Summary
This study enhances balance theory by analyzing social networks with directed edges across triads, subgroups, and entire networks. Findings confirm high balance levels and reveal distinct properties at each analytical scale.
Area of Science:
- Social Network Analysis
- Sociology
- Computational Social Science
Background:
- Balance theory traditionally models social systems using static, undirected graphs.
- Existing models do not fully capture the complexity of social interactions, particularly directionality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To expand balance theory by incorporating directed edges and a multilevel analysis framework.
- To develop new measures for assessing balance at triad, subgroup, and network levels.
- To investigate the distinct properties of balance at different scales.
Main Methods:
- Developed new measures for triad-level balance using transitive semicycles.
- Proposed measures for subgroup balance, including cohesiveness and divisiveness.
- Adapted the normalized line index for network-level balance with directed edges.
Main Results:
- Computational analyses quantified and compared social structure patterns across multiple settings.
- The multilevel framework was applied to temporal and multilayer networks, demonstrating generalizability.
- High balance was consistently observed across all three levels of analysis.
Conclusions:
- Balance at different levels (triadic, subgroup, network) represents distinct social phenomena.
- Each level of balance should be evaluated independently due to unique properties like internal cohesion, external division, and network polarization.
- A comprehensive yet parsimonious multilevel approach is proposed for balance assessment.
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