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Solving the Brokerage Paradox: Trait Homophily in Triads, and the Broker-in-between Hypothesis

Tue, August 15, 2:30 to 4:10pm, Palais des congrès de Montréal, Floor: Level 5, 516D

Abstract

Brokerage requires an open triad: two unconnected actors indirectly connected via a broker. But open triads tend to close, and closed triads are broker-less. Solving this brokerage paradox requires identifying mechanisms that keep open triads open. This article posits homophily – that actor similarity facilitates connections, and its corollary – that dissimilarity inhibits connections, as a paradox-solving mechanism. This novel perspective yields the broker-in-between hypothesis. For traits exhibiting strong homophily, open triads with particular relative trait value patterns may be more likely to remain open. Specifically, open triads with indirectly-connected trait-dissimilar actors and a broker with a trait value between the two alters are more likely to remain open, and will be observed more frequently than chance. For traits not exhibiting strong homophily, this broker-in-between triad trait pattern is not expected to occur more frequently than chance. Our tests of the broker-in-between hypothesis using four distinct trait measures and workplace network data were fully supportive in both significant and null findings. Even actor traits that do not predict brokerage at the individual level can nonetheless predict brokerage at the triad level, given the presence of strong trait homophily. Implications for research on brokerage and trait-network relationships are discussed.

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