The Influence "Paradox": When More Network Ties Lead to Less Change.
The diffusion of behaviors and ideas is a core concern in many fields and highly relevant to collective action and innovation adoption. A common assumption is that well-connected individuals within social networks are especially influential and so are good targets to initiate behavioral intervention...
| Publicado en: | American Sociological Review Vol. 91; no. 3; pp. 464 - 490 |
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| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Sage Publications Inc.
Jun2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=194392855&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 194392855 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00031224 ASC jtl: American Sociological Review issn: 00031224 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Jun2026 vid: 91 iid: 3 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. artinfo: ui: 194392855 10.1177/00031224261438845 ppf: 464 ppct: 26 formats: tig: atl: The Influence "Paradox": When More Network Ties Lead to Less Change. aug: au: Hsiao, Yuan Christakis, Nicholas A. affil: Yale University su: Influence Social networks Change Social contagion Trend setters Collective behavior Leadership Computer simulation Diffusion of innovations Marketing Social skills Interpersonal relations Public health Diffusion processes Mathematical models Theory Regression analysis sug: subj: Influence Social networks Change Social contagion Trend setters Collective behavior Leadership Computer simulation Diffusion of innovations Marketing Social skills Interpersonal relations Public health Marketing Consulting Services Health and Welfare Funds Other Individual and Family Services Diffusion processes Mathematical models Theory Regression analysis keyword: collective behavior diffusion processes opinion leaders social contagion social networks collective behavior diffusion processes opinion leaders social contagion social networks ab: The diffusion of behaviors and ideas is a core concern in many fields and highly relevant to collective action and innovation adoption. A common assumption is that well-connected individuals within social networks are especially influential and so are good targets to initiate behavioral interventions. Here, we argue that the effectiveness of network-based targeting depends on how social ties are organized within a network. We theorize that there is a structural "network paradox": when social ties are concentrated around a small number of well-connected individuals, a focus on targeting those individuals becomes less effective at generating broad diffusion. We further argue that this paradox is especially pronounced for behaviors that require high levels of social reinforcement to spread. We conducted a three-part study including theoretical analysis, empirical analysis based on a randomized field trial of health practices in Honduras, and simulations. Across all three studies, the results highlight the critical role of network structure in shaping diffusion dynamics under targeting protocols that privilege individuals with more ties. Such protocols may fail when those individuals are clustered together. Our findings have implications for understanding leadership and influence, innovation, public health and developmental economic interventions, and marketing. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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