Social Networks

Developing and maintaining network ties requires a set of interpersonal skills and the desire and opportunity to use those skills. Men and women often differ in the nature of their interpersonal exchanges and in their opportunities for social inter-action (Dykstra 1990). Research indicates that men and women structure their personal networks differently and that networks may serve different functions for husbands and wives. For example, wives generally report larger networks of kin and greater network interconnectedness than husbands (Antonucci and Akiyama 1987).

Claude Fischer and Stacey Oliker (1983) suggest that age and lifestyle stage account for network differences, with young married men having larger networks than their wives, and the reverse being true for older married couples. Studies of middle-aged and older adults indicate that married men are more likely to report their wives as their primary confidants and sources of support, whereas women are more likely to report confidants other than their husbands and to rely on friends and children as sources of support (Antonucci and Akiyama 1987). Women are more likely than men to request assistance from network members in general (Butler, Giodano, and Neren 1985).

Network composition may affect women's opportunities for social contact outside of the home, such as participation in the labor force. Although a number of factors influence work force participation, social network connections can play a critical role in finding and securing paid employment. As women's networks tend to have larger proportions of kin compared to their male counterparts, the networks of women may lack the heterogeneity of members needed to provide unique information and help in finding a job (Wellman and Wortley 1990). Research has shown that women who have large, diverse social networks are more likely to be working for pay as compared with women whose networks are less diverse (Stoloff, Glanville, and Bienenstock 1999).