Sociology · Level 3 · Advanced
Are You Your Friends’ Friend? Poor Perception of Friendship Ties Limits the Ability to Promote Behavioral Change
Almaatouq A, Radaelli L, Pentland A, et al. (2016). PLOS ONE. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151588 · CC BY 4.0
Step 1 of 2Read the paper
Do the people you call friends see you the same way, and does it matter? The authors surveyed students about who they consider friends and who they think considers them a friend, then reanalysed a smartphone-tracked exercise experiment to see whether the direction of a friendship changes how much a buddy can influence you, and finally tested whether network structure can predict tie direction.
How to read it
- Read "Friendship Directionality" for the survey design; compare expected and actual reciprocity.
- Before Table 1, learn the three tie types (reciprocal, ego perceived, alter perceived) from the ego's view.
- In Table 1, compare coefficients and stars across Models 1–3, and see how R² changes.
- Read the Discussion paragraph on confounding effects; it limits how far the findings travel.
Step 2 of 2Take the test
15 questions · about 50 minutes including reading · pick an answer to see straight away if it’s right. Nothing is saved.
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Paper: Almaatouq A, Radaelli L, Pentland A, et al., PLOS ONE (2016), licensed CC BY 4.0. Summary and questions are Research Nest’s own; read the original for the full study.