Building a structural typology of personal networks: Individual differences in the cohesion of interpersonal environment

Abstract

The development of typologies is an efficient strategy in the descriptive study of individual differences in the interpersonal environment of relationships. In this paper, we developed a classification of personal networks using structural indicators with a representative sample (n = 403) in a medium-sized city of the metropolitan environment of Seville, in the south of Spain. The typology was based on the analysis of conglomerates with three criteria variables: centralization, number of cliques, and the number of components. The results allowed the identification of four types of personal networks: dense, intermediate, clustered, and fragmented networks. The classification was validated with descriptive data, linear discriminant analysis, and visual-classification procedure. The structural cohesion and the formation of cohesive sub-groups were two key dimensions to describe the variability of the personal networks in the sample.