Patterns of link reciprocity in directed, signed networks

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Gallo, Anna, Saracco, Fabio, Lambiotte, Renaud, Garlaschelli, Diego, Squartini, Tiziano
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Gallo, Anna
Saracco, Fabio
Lambiotte, Renaud
Garlaschelli, Diego
Squartini, Tiziano
author_facet Gallo, Anna
Saracco, Fabio
Lambiotte, Renaud
Garlaschelli, Diego
Squartini, Tiziano
contents Most of the analyses concerning signed networks have focused on the balance theory, hence identifying frustration with undirected, triadic motifs having an odd number of negative edges; much less attention has been paid to their directed counterparts. To fill this gap, we focus on signed, directed connections, with the aim of exploring the notion of frustration in such a context. When dealing with signed, directed edges, frustration is a multi-faceted concept, admitting different definitions at different scales: if we limit ourselves to consider cycles of length two, frustration is related to reciprocity, i.e. the tendency of edges to admit the presence of partners pointing in the opposite direction. As the reciprocity of signed networks is still poorly understood, we adopt a principled approach for its study, defining quantities and introducing models to consistently capture empirical patterns of the kind. In order to quantify the tendency of empirical networks to form either mutualistic or antagonistic cycles of length two, we extend the Exponential Random Graphs framework to binary, directed, signed networks with global and local constraints and, then, compare the empirical abundance of the aforementioned patterns with the one expected under each model. We find that the (directed extension of the) balance theory is not capable of providing a consistent explanation of the patterns characterising the directed, signed networks considered in this work. Although part of the ambiguities can be solved by adopting a coarser definition of balance, our results call for a different theory, accounting for the directionality of edges in a coherent manner. In any case, the evidence that the empirical, signed networks can be highly reciprocated leads us to recommend to explicitly account for the role played by bidirectional dyads in determining frustration at higher levels (e.g. the triadic one).
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_08697
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Patterns of link reciprocity in directed, signed networks
Gallo, Anna
Saracco, Fabio
Lambiotte, Renaud
Garlaschelli, Diego
Squartini, Tiziano
Physics and Society
Applied Physics
Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability
Most of the analyses concerning signed networks have focused on the balance theory, hence identifying frustration with undirected, triadic motifs having an odd number of negative edges; much less attention has been paid to their directed counterparts. To fill this gap, we focus on signed, directed connections, with the aim of exploring the notion of frustration in such a context. When dealing with signed, directed edges, frustration is a multi-faceted concept, admitting different definitions at different scales: if we limit ourselves to consider cycles of length two, frustration is related to reciprocity, i.e. the tendency of edges to admit the presence of partners pointing in the opposite direction. As the reciprocity of signed networks is still poorly understood, we adopt a principled approach for its study, defining quantities and introducing models to consistently capture empirical patterns of the kind. In order to quantify the tendency of empirical networks to form either mutualistic or antagonistic cycles of length two, we extend the Exponential Random Graphs framework to binary, directed, signed networks with global and local constraints and, then, compare the empirical abundance of the aforementioned patterns with the one expected under each model. We find that the (directed extension of the) balance theory is not capable of providing a consistent explanation of the patterns characterising the directed, signed networks considered in this work. Although part of the ambiguities can be solved by adopting a coarser definition of balance, our results call for a different theory, accounting for the directionality of edges in a coherent manner. In any case, the evidence that the empirical, signed networks can be highly reciprocated leads us to recommend to explicitly account for the role played by bidirectional dyads in determining frustration at higher levels (e.g. the triadic one).
title Patterns of link reciprocity in directed, signed networks
topic Physics and Society
Applied Physics
Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.08697