Impact of Social Network Ties on Subjective Well-Being: Exploring Structural Conditions of Weak Ties

This study clarifies how the structural properties of social networks are associated with subjective well-being. Specifically, this study defines and classifies social network ties into three types (weak, mixed, and strong) based on network transitivity and examines the differences in the impact of social network ties on individual subjective well-being among the three types. I implemented a computer simulation to estimate the effects of social network ties and analyzed data from a Pro-sociality and Personal Network Survey conducted in Japan in 2024 (N = 1,000). The computer simulation and statistical analyses reveal that mixed ties (weak ties combined with strong ties) were the most effective social network ties and that weak ties were the least effective social network ties for attaining a high level of subjective well-being. This suggests that weak ties are the most effective in attaining a high level of subjective well-being only if they are connected to strong ties. If weak ties are isolated from strong ties, they may lose their positional advantage in social networks.