a social influence analysis of perceived organizational support

scores represented higher levels of POS. The composite scores were then used to create a POS
dissimilarity matrix. Consistent with past research on social influence (e.g. Meyer, 1994), the
degree of dissimilarity was computed by taking the absolute difference between individual i’s
mean POS score and individual j’s mean POS score. For example, if individual i rated their level
of POS as 5 and individual j rated their POS to be 3, the cell entry Xij in the similarity matrix for
POS would be 2. Therefore, smaller numbers represented greater interpersonal similarity in
POS.
Social Network Ties. Social network ties were measured using the sociometric survey
described previously. Each question on the survey explored whether or not a certain type of tie
existed between employees.
In this dissertation, two different sets of measures were utilized. Thus, a different set of
regression analyses was conducted for each of these assumptions. The first set of measures
included reciprocated strong ties (reciprocated ties analysis), as well as all other ties shown in
Table 1 and described in the following section. A second set of measures included non-
reciprocated strong ties (non-reciprocated ties analysis) as well as all other ties described in
Table 2. Each set of measures represented different assumptions about the way tie strength is
represented in social network research. In the reciprocated ties analysis, both reciprocity and
frequent contact were necessary for a strong friendship or advice tie to exist between actors. In
the non-reciprocated ties analysis, only frequent contact (not reciprocity) was required for strong
friendship and advice ties. I did not apply the reciprocity requirement to role model ties, as such
ties by definition do not need to be reciprocal (Gibson, 2003; Ibarra, 1999).
57