A simmelian tie (can be capitalized as a Simmelian tie) is a type of an

interpersonal tie In social network analysis and mathematical sociology, interpersonal ties are defined as information-carrying connections between people. Interpersonal ties, generally, come in three varieties: ''strong'', ''weak'' or ''absent''. Weak social ti ...

, a concept used in the

social network analysis Social network analysis (SNA) is the process of investigating social structures through the use of networks and graph theory. It characterizes networked structures in terms of ''nodes'' (individual actors, people, or things within the network) a ...

. For a simmelian tie to exist, there must be three (a triad) or more of reciprocal strong ties in a group. A simmelian tie is seen as an even stronger tie than a regular strong tie. A simmelian tie can be seen as a basic element of a

clique A clique ( AusE, CanE, or ), in the social sciences, is a group of individuals who interact with one another and share similar interests. Interacting with cliques is part of normative social development regardless of gender, ethnicity, or popular ...

Definition and an example

Whereas the basic ties are known as strong or weak and focus on the strength of the analyzed relationship, simmelian ties are concerned with more than just the strength of the relationship. They look at the number of strong ties within a group. For a simmelian tie to exist, there must be three (a triad) or more of reciprocal strong ties in a group. A simmelian tie is viewed as even stronger than a regular strong tie. For example, if Adam has a strong tie to Betty, and both Adam and Betty share a strong tie to Charles, this three-way tie would be a simmelian one.

History and use

The concept of a Simmelian tie has been developed by

David Krackhardt David Krackhardt is Professor of Organizations at Heinz College and the Tepper School of Business, with courtesy appointments in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences (Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences) and the Machine Lea ...

in his 1999 paper, ''The ties that torture: Simmelian tie analysis in organizations. Research in the Sociology of Organizations''.Krackhardt, D. (1999). The ties that torture: Simmelian tie analysis in organizations. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, (16), 183-210

/ref> Krackhardt developed the concept of a simmelian tie as an alternative to

Ronald Burt Ronald Stuart Burt (born 1949) is an American sociologist. He is the Charles M. Harper Leadership Professor of Sociology and Strategy at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Distinguished Professor at Bocconi University. He ...

's structural hole theory. Simmelian ties are based on the work of, and named after,

Georg Simmel Georg Simmel (; ; 1 March 1858 – 26 September 1918) was a German sociologist, philosopher, and critic. Simmel was influential in the field of sociology. Simmel was one of the first generation of German sociologists: his neo-Kantian approach l ...

, a sociologist who distinguished social triads as an important social structure that's qualitatively different from dyadic relationships in more and more important ways than just the number of people participating. The concept of a Simmelian tie is related to that of a

; each pair of nodes (individuals) in a clique has a Simmelian tie between them. Thus a simmelian tie can be defined as a basic tie in a clique, or a co-clique relationship (between individuals who belong to a specific clique). A simmelian tie strengthens the relationship (tie) between the individuals, but it is also restricting - it subjects those individuals to a group norm. In his original paper, Krackhardt stressed that restriction, noting that the more cliques one has simmelian ties to, the more constrained one is. The concept of a simmelian tie is used in the

. It has been used in the

study of organizations Organization studies (also called organization science or organizational studies) is the academic field interested in a ''collective activity, and how it relates to organization, organizing, and management''. It is "the examination of how individua ...

, including

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References

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Definition and an example

History and use

See also

References

Further reading