Dyadic Isolation in Social Interactions: The Role of Depressive Symptoms

Marion Hoffman, Christoph Stadtfeld and Timon Elmer
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Marion Hoffman: TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, IAST - Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse
Christoph Stadtfeld: Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences - ETH Zürich
Timon Elmer: UZH - Universität Zürich [Zürich] = University of Zurich

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Abstract: Dyadic isolation is the tendency of some individuals to be involved in pairwise interactions rather than in larger group interactions. This article investigates the interpersonal processes associated with the dyadic isolation of individuals with depressive symptoms. We hypothesize that such individuals tend to initiate more and stay longer in dyadic interactions compared to group interactions (dyadic preference hypothesis) and that individuals—irrespective of their own level of depressive symptoms—tend to join and stay longer in interactions when interaction partners have lower levels of depressive symptoms (depression avoidance hypothesis). We analyze two data sets (N = 123) of face-to-face interaction events (N = 86,915) collected with proximity badges at a social event. Hypotheses are tested using a relational event model (DyNAM-i) specifically tailored for modeling group interactions. In line with the dyadic preference hypotheses, individuals with higher levels of depressive symptoms are found to be more likely to join and stay in dyadic interactions. Post hoc analyses reveal that this result only applies to female participants. We find limited support for the depression avoidance hypotheses.

Keywords: Social networks; Depression; Dyadic isolation; Face-to-face interaction; Relational event model; Social interaction; Social isolation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-09-24
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Published in Social Psychology Quarterly, 2024, ⟨10.1177/01902725241276407⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04716695

DOI: 10.1177/01902725241276407

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