Difficult People: Who Is Perceived to Be Demanding in Personal Networks and Why Are They There?

ABSTRACT: Why do people maintain ties with individuals whom they find difficult? Standard network theories imply that such alters are avoided or dropped. Drawing on a survey of over 1,100 diverse respondents who described over 12,000 relationships, we examined which among those ties respondents nominated as a person whom they "sometimes find demanding or difficult." Those so listed composed about 15 percent of all alters in the network. After holding ego and alter traits constant, close kin, especially women relatives and aging parents, were especially likely to be named as difficult alters. Non-kin described as friends were less, and those described as co-workers more, likely to be listed only as difficult alters. These results suggest that normative and institutional constraints may force people t

SUBMITTER: Offer S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5937537 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature