EFFECTS OF COMMUNICATION-NETWORK STRUCTURE - COMPONENTS OF POSITIONAL CENTRALITY

A meta-analytic integration is reported which summarizes the effects of positional centrality on communication network member behavior. Three distinct components of centrality are considered (Degree, Betweenness, and Closeness) along with three classes of behavior (Leadership, Satisfaction, and Participation). Results indicate that each component of centrality is a significant, moderate predictor of network member behavior. However, after partialling out the effects of the other two components, Betweenness and Degree were each still found to be significant, independent predictors of Leadership, Satisfaction, and Participation (with Betweenness being significantly superior to Degree in predicting Leadership). Moreover, Closeness was not found to be a significant, independent predictor of any behaviors. This is noteworthy, insofar as Closeness corresponds to the original social psychological conceptualization of "centrality". Discussion considers the implications of these findings for communication networks in general, and in particular the growing interest in computer-mediated communication systems. © 1991.