Neighbourhood social ties: how much do residential, physical and virtual mobility matter?
Following up on the prediction by classical sociological theorists that neighbours will become irrelevant as societies become more mobile, this research examines the strength of people's social ties with neighbours and the associations thereof with residential, physical and virtual mobility using longitudinal data for Germany. Unlike previous studies, the research considers the three forms of mobility simultaneously and contrasts its effects on social ties with neighbours to those with family. The results show that residential and physical mobility are negatively associated with social ties to neighbours and positively with ties to family. Virtual mobility does not weaken social ties with neighbours but ties with family. The positive association between mobility and social ties with family may not be strong enough to ascertain that people maintain as close social ties to others in the future as it does not outweigh the negative association with visiting neighbours.
['Knies|Gundi|G|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D003625:Data Collection D005190:Family D005858:Germany D006801:Humans D020407:Internet D008137:Longitudinal Studies D008875:Middle Aged D009769:Object Attachment D011157:Population Dynamics D012111:Residence Characteristics D012919:Social Behavior D012933:Social Identification D014584:User-Computer Interface D055815:Young Adult
Neighbourhood mobility SOEP family ties internet social interactions transport