TY - JOUR
T1 - Maintenance Behavior and Relationship Quality as Predictors of Perceived Availability of Resources in Newly Formed College Friendship Networks
AU - McEwan, Bree
AU - Guerrero, Laura
PY - 2012/9
Y1 - 2012/9
N2 - First-year college students are challenged to develop and maintain new friendship networks. This study, informed by an exchange perspective, tests a conceptual model that specifies how relational maintenance, friendship quality, and perceived availability of network resources are associated in newly formed friendship networks. Results from structural equation modeling suggest that, for casual friendships, the association between maintenance and the perceived availability of resources is mediated by the quality of one's casual friendship network. For close friendship networks, reported maintenance behavior was both directly and indirectly associated with the perceived availability of resources. There were also differences between close and casual friendship networks, with students reporting more maintenance behavior in close friendships, and with different behaviors associated with maintenance in close friendship networks than casual friendship networks.
AB - First-year college students are challenged to develop and maintain new friendship networks. This study, informed by an exchange perspective, tests a conceptual model that specifies how relational maintenance, friendship quality, and perceived availability of network resources are associated in newly formed friendship networks. Results from structural equation modeling suggest that, for casual friendships, the association between maintenance and the perceived availability of resources is mediated by the quality of one's casual friendship network. For close friendship networks, reported maintenance behavior was both directly and indirectly associated with the perceived availability of resources. There were also differences between close and casual friendship networks, with students reporting more maintenance behavior in close friendships, and with different behaviors associated with maintenance in close friendship networks than casual friendship networks.
KW - First-year College Students
KW - Friendship
KW - Relational Maintenance
KW - Relationship Quality
KW - Resources
KW - Social Network
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84865022862&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84865022862&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10510974.2011.639433
DO - 10.1080/10510974.2011.639433
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84865022862
SN - 1051-0974
VL - 63
SP - 421
EP - 440
JO - Communication Studies
JF - Communication Studies
IS - 4
ER -