Poster Presentation International Positive Psychology Association 8th IPPA World Congress 2023

Why do weak-ties promote well-being? Evidence for dual pathways involving relationship forming expectations and positive interaction quality. (#917)

Zizhong Xiao 1 , Edward P Lemay Jr. 1
  1. University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MARYLAND, United States

Social interaction significantly contributes to people’s well-being (Clark & Lemay, 2010). Strong-ties (romantic partners, friends, and family members) and weak-ties (acquittances and colleagues) are the two major social relationship categories (Granovetter, 1973; Perry-Smith, 2006). Most relationship research has focused on strong-ties interactions because those interactions presumably have the most impact on people’s lives. This study instead focuses on weak-ties. Past literature such as Sandstrom and Dunn (2014) found that people with higher numbers of weak-tie interactions reported a greater sense of belongingness and happiness. However, less is known about the mediating pathways behind this association. I hypothesize that weak-ties will promote well-being through two distinct pathways: the expectation that weak-ties will transition into strong-ties and positive interaction with weak-ties (e.g., mutual disclosure, the nature of the interaction, satisfaction with the interaction). Thus far, I have collected 46 (37% men, 63% women,  age = 19.57, SD = 1.57) of the intended 150 participants. At the initial lab visit, participants complete questionnaires on well-being, personality, and social interaction quality (i.e., the Rochester Interaction Record (Reis & Wheeler, 1991)). For each of three following days, participants use tally counters to count their social interactions throughout the day and complete daily online questionnaires rating those social interactions. Data will be analyzed following the completion of data collection in May 2023. Also in May 2023, a follow-up study (N = 150) will be conducted on Prolific.co, in which participants will recall and rate their social interactions from the previous day. The planned analysis of both studies will comprise multi-level modeling (social interactions nested within each participant). Well-being measures will be regressed on both the expectations that weak-ties will form into strong-ties and people’s interaction quality with weak-ties when assessing the effect of weak-tie interaction frequency. Little is known about why weak-tie interactions are essential for well-being. This study will contribute to people’s understanding of how weak-tie interactions facilitate happiness and well-being. 

  1. Clark, M. S., & Lemay, E. P., Jr. (2010). Close relationships. In S. T. Fiske, D. T. Gilbert, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (pp. 898–940). John Wiley & Sons, Inc..
  2. Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American journal of sociology, 78(6), 1360-1380.
  3. Perry-Smith, J. E. (2006). Social yet creative: The role of social relationships in facilitating individual creativity. Academy of Management journal, 49(1), 85-101.
  4. Sandstrom, G. M., & Dunn, E. W. (2014). Social interactions and well-being: The surprising power of weak ties. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(7), 910-922.
  5. Reis, H. T., & Wheeler, L. (1991). Studying social interaction with the Rochester Interaction Record. In Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 24, pp. 269-318). Academic Press.
  • Please select up to 3 keywords from the following list to best describe your submission content: Positive emotions, Relationships