Core Ties Homophily and Sociocultural Divides in Hungary from 1987 to 2015

Abstract

In this article, we focus on the changes of network structures in Hungary, making use of a series of surveys covering a period of nearly 30 years from 1987 to 2015. Using the name-generator network technique, our main focus is on patterns of homophily and social distance with regard to some sociodemographic and resource-type variables. Two methods have been applied: a standard methodology based on crosstab analysis and a more complex approach based on a special case-control procedure. Contrary to some expectations, our results indicate a tendency of robust homophily and its consolidation over the examined period. Associations by age and education present quite stable patterns with a high, even somewhat growing, level of homophily. The analyses covering several decades suggest that stability and change are both present with lasting, and in certain respects increasing, intergroup distances with regard to the core tie traits of social life in Hungary.

Keywords:

• Case-control method
• change of regime
• core ties
• homophily
• name-generator
• network

Notes

Insights from various disciplines (as is also exhibited by recent approaches of network science embracing fields of natural sciences, as well) help to understand the specificities of the prevalence of social proximity or prestige. Preferential attachment is likely to occur among relatively unbounded settings, while the tendency of homophily is more related to the presence of more clustered and closed entities.

Utasi (2003) called attention to the growing ratio of single-female households related to postponing getting married (or not marrying at all) for career reasons; Dávid et al. (2016) pointed out the intimate affective functions of friendly relationships on the Hungarian terrain in a cross-cultural study; Kmetty and Koltai (2016) revealed a diversified pattern of relationships (involving kin and also non-kin ties) among those having higher education levels, which has become prevalent in Hungary in the past decades.

On the emerging trend of a lengthy post-adolescent life stage, see Vaskovics (2001).

Yardi and Boyd (2010) analyze the homophilous tendencies of social media communication and introduce some attempts to advance more diverse perspectives; also investigating young populations, Lőrincz (2011) outlines features of homophily and homogamy in online dating habits on the Hungarian terrain.

See Angelusz and Tardos (2001) on the special features of the loss of ties in the case of inactive elder people in the given phase.

To refer to the most conspicuous experience, the economically backward regions and rural types of settlements, comprising the bulk of the low-educated population, suffered a much heavier loss of standard workplaces.

Important aspects of the chance of social mobility are related to the varied quality of training among different institutions of higher education and the differential chances of their access. The frames of our variable apparatus do not permit us to go into more detail in this direction.

All five surveys were representative of the Hungarian population 18 years old and above, and all the surveys used classic random sampling methods.

The long version contained the following situations: discussion about important matters, pastime together, household help, discussion about work matters, common hobbies, borrowing money, looking after the home in case of travel, and seeking advice. The short version contained the first three items.

Integration and disintegration processes in the Hungarian Society–OTKA research number: 108836.

Alter data were summarized per ego for all the situations.

As age is a continuous variable, it would also be possible to use it without categorization. However, as the other variables are categorical, we have decided to transform age to categories, to have a uniform methodology in the case of all variables.

The change could also be explained by survey contextual factors (Fischer 2009; McPherson, Smith-Lovin, and Brashears 2009).

Some other data sources are also available to monitor changes in the kin/non-kin ratio between 2008 and 2015. Although these surveys only focus on core discussion networks, they could help us in measuring the tendency. The kin ratio was: 1999: 87 percent, 2004: 79 percent, 2011: 60 percent, 2015: 43 percent (the last survey was the same that we use in this study). These data underline the increasing ratio of non-kin ties in the core network structure. Besides the methodological concerns, we think that the 2015 result is not completely misleading, but it is still biased.

In binary logistic regression models, the coefficients depend on the residual variation of the model, hence the coefficients are not comparable between models. As we included the interactions of all the independent variables and years in our logistic regression models, this is equivalent to running separate regressions by years (Allison 1999). Therefore, there is a chance that if the residual variations in the examined years differ from each other, the values of our interaction terms are not comparable. However, bootstrapping the standard errors gives more robust estimations, as it reduces the probability that the estimations will be biased.

With much less weight than in the case of all-ties (and particularly kin-tie) analyses, the above-mentioned special caution with regard to the 2015 data applies to some degree to non-kin, in the first place to gender but somewhat to age homophily results as well.

On path-dependent developments in the past decades of East-Central European societies, see Sik (2010) and Tomescu-Dubrow and Slomczynski 2016.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zoltán Kmetty

Zoltán Kmetty is a research fellow at the Peripato Research Centre of MTA-ELTE, and a senior lecturer at the Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences. His main research interests are methodology, network analysis, suicide research, and election studies.

Júlia Koltai

Júlia Koltai is a research fellow at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Centre for Social Sciences, and an assistant professor at the Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences. Her main research focus is on quantitative methodology and statistics. In recent years, her interest has turned to big data processing and analysis.

Róbert Tardos

Róbert Tardos is a senior fellow at the Peripato Research Centre of MTA-ELTE. He works in the fields of cultural-interactional stratification, social network analysis, and political behavior, and is currently taking part in ISSP, GLES, and Greek–Hungarian comparative projects.