The homophily principle states that people’s networks are homogeneous with regard to socio-demographic, behavioral, and intrapersonal characteristics (McPerson. Smith-Lovin, & Cook, 2001). Homophily limits people’s social worlds in a way that has powerful implications for the information they receive, the attitudes they form, and the interactions they experience. Limited studies have explored homophily in sports setting. The purpose of this study was to investigate the structures of parental networks of Korean rhythmic gymnasts and to examine whether homolhily existed. Research questions were: (1) What are the network structures of Korean rhythmic gymnasts’ parents? (2) What structural parameters contribute to parental network structures, and (3) Is there an association between parental network and flow of information in their networks?
Method:
A total of 77 mothers of youth rhythmic gymnasts (6-18 years old)participated in this study. Each of those mothers was contacted individually and asked to complete a Name Generator Questionnaire (i.e., list four names that you have a close relationship with, list name(s) of the best coach(es) in the field, etc.) and general socio-demographic survey. Their gymnast children’s ranking of the year for2013 was also reported to examine their status. Data were analyzed using social network analysis tools such as UCINET, p-net, and Quadratic Assignment Procedure.
Analysis/Results:
This study found that (1) homophily was identified in parental networks of gymnasts (2) homophily (e.g., by gymnasts’ ranking, team affiliation, coach) contributed to the total social network of parents, and (3) interacting only with others in the network, members received information about coaches/coaching from the strong ties rather than weak ties (Granovettor, 1973).
Conclusions:
This study suggest that parental homophily ties are formed by the ranking of their children in the sports arena through which they exchange information about competition, coaches, school works, etc.. This study has confirmed Festinger’s (1950) classic theory of social comparison which posited that individuals would use as a reference group those who are similar to them.