Is It A Tie Bridge Or A Micro-Institution?

This paper is a fundamental empirical study based on social capital field,which is centered on the traditional tie strength proposition from the perspective of "tie bridge",and identifies the contradictions between the traditional tie strength proposition and the perspective of contact’s willingness,and corrects them with the relevant theories of "minority homogeneity principle" and "micro structure".Is it a tie bridge or a micro structure? The traditional view from the tie bridge perspective is that both "strength of weak ties" and "strength of strong ties" view relationships as channels(bridges)of information and influence,and that it is the different nature of the resources that the relationship touches that make the difference.Some focus on the decision making process of the contacts,and the willingness of the contacts to help is related to the strength of the relationship,if viewed from the perspective of the willingness of the contact,social capital works not only by accessing those social resources through the relationship,but also by the willingness of the contact to help,i.e.,the combination of access to social capital and the willingness of the contact to help.In other words,the combination of access to social capital and the willingness of the contact to help.The tie bridge perspective clearly ignores how social capital is mobilized.This paper questions the tie strength proposition from the perspective of the homogeneity principle and revises the content of this proposition from the micro structure perspective.From the revision of the homogeneity principle,it is argued that the inference of unrestricted homogeneity is problematic,thus questioning inference of a negative correlation between tie strength and accessed social capital.From the "relative homogeneity principle" and the "minority homogeneity principle," it is clear that the formation of strong relationships does not necessarily stem from the social position homogeneity,and even if there is an effect of similar social position attraction,this effect is conditional on "minority homogeneity".On the other hand,from the micro-institution point of view,strong tie interaction patterns may influence the mobilization of social capital by influencing relational willingness,based on the "micro-institution theory",which suggests that the combined effect of contact social capital and strong tie interaction patterns(emphasizing the content of contact’s willingness to help)influences individual status acquisition—— a conditional source of social capital.The micro structure perspective compensates for the lack of a relational bridge perspective.Based on the above theory,this paper proposes three research hypotheses on conditional causality,starting with the minority homogeneity hypothesis: all else being equal,homogeneity preferences positively affect network density conditionally,and this positive effect is stronger in minority groups(compared to other groups).This hypothesis was also tested using a dichotomous variables model with a linear regression model,using interaction terms to observe the theoretical existence of conditional causality,which was supported by the evidence;the micro-institution hypothesis: all else being equal,the greater the network density,the more positively an individual’s exposure to social capital affects the individual’s own social status.Tested using a linear regression model,the results of the interaction term on the evidence supported the theoretical existence of conditional causality;the relational diversity hypothesis: all else being equal,the more diverse the network relationships,the more positively an individual’s accessed social capital influences an individual’s own social status.Testing using the linear regression model failed to validate its theoretical conditional causality,which further exposes the theoretical problems with the tie bridge perspective and argues that the micro structure hypothesis is a more appropriate line of analysis.The paper concludes with further discussion of the interaction term issue between the model setting and the nonlinear model.