“Good Vibrations”: The Social Networks of Optimists and Alter-Optimists

Miguel Pereira Lopes

School of Social and Political Sciences, Lisbon Tech University, Lisboa, Portugal.

DOI: 10.4236/sn.2012.11001                

Abstract

This study empirically tested if the personality trait of optimism and the interpersonal capability to generate optimism in one’s network nodes (i.e., alter-optimism) influences the social relationship patterns. The results provide evidence that optimism trait is independent from the way social networks of personal-issue sharing, advice-seeking, problem-solving, and innovation, are structured. In contrary, the alter-optimism capability does provide a good explanation of one’s social network position. Implications of these findings are discussed at the end.

Keywords

Optimism; Alter-Optimists; Homophily; Social Network Analysis

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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