Who Shall Attend? Social networks of weddings

• In Event: 40216 - New applications of social network analysis

Abstract

Social occasions represent the gathering of people in a single location to acknowledge a shared dedication. Prior studies find that occasions provide a platform to reinforce social norms, exchange meaning, and form unexpected social ties. Yet research rarely considers why some people attend occasions while others do not. We address this gap by investigating the upstream structural factors that are associated with social occasion attendance. By leveraging original data on 152 guests who were invited to an American wedding, we test five hypotheses that link varying levels of social network structures to occasion attendance. These unique data allow us to analyze those who attended the occasion as well as those who abstained. We find that the probability of guest attendance is a function of their position with a preexisting set of social structures, including network centrality and geographic proximity. We close by discussing the theoretical and methodological implications of our findings.

Authors

• Ashley Railey, Oklahoma State University

• Adam Roth, Oklahoma State University