Personal network dynamics and socialization processes : influence of and changes in individual's family and social circles during transitions to adult life

Becoming an adult goes together with changes in sociability that are related to socialization processes. Changes in individuals' personal networks provide an image of the processes of social inscription at work. The persons who make up an individual's family and close social circles also affect the direction(s) that individual takes by way of their advice and influence, which when taken together may be dissonant. On the basis of a longitudinal study that has been following a panel of young people for over ten years, the relations between how personal networks evolve and what paths young people take toward adult life are explored. Identifying << significant others >> and why they are influential, and studying how and to what degree they remain central in the young person's network, are a means to identify the different kinds of selection, influence and composition logic that jointly shape network and socialization process dynamics.