Quasi-Ties

Abstract

Research on social capital has found that individuals who access resources through social relations gain competitive advantage and systems with high levels or desirable distributions of social capital are more effective. These effects depend on actors allocating resources to others in their social system at-large instead of to others with whom they share specific social relationships. It is hypothesized that actors who identify with others in a social system as a collective are more likely to allocate resources uniformly throughout the system. Thus, identification with the collective can serve as a quasi-tie, directing the allocation of resources, but not defined by specific social relations. Findings from a longitudinal, multilevel network study of teachers' use of computers support multiple theories of resource allocation and, in particular, confirm that teachers who identify with the collectives of their schools are less likely to favor close colleagues and close colleagues of close colleagues, in their provision of help.