The Sociotype, a New Conceptual Construct on Human Social Networks: Application in Mental Health and Quality of Life

TL;DR

This paper introduces the 'sociotype' as a new conceptual framework linking social network patterns to mental health and quality of life, supported by preliminary empirical data from university students.

Contribution

It proposes the sociotype as a novel construct connecting social relationships with health outcomes, supported by initial empirical exploration.

Findings

Gender differences in conversation time

Associations between sociotype and mental health

Correlation with satisfaction in personal relationships

Abstract

The present work discusses the pertinence of a 'sociotype' construct, both theoretically and empirically oriented. The term, based on the conceptual chain genotype-phenotype-sociotype, suggests an evolutionary preference in the human species for some determined averages of social relationships. This core pattern or 'sociotype' has been explored herein for the networking relationships of young people--165 university students filling in a 20-items questionnaire on their social interactions. In spite that this is a preliminary study, interesting results have been obtained on gender conversation time, mental health, sociability level, and satisfaction with personal relationships. This sociotype hypothesis could be a timely enterprise for mental health and quality of life policies.