Abstract

The intuitive background for measures of structural centrality in social networks is reviewed aPzd existing measures are evaluated in terms of their consistency with intuitions and their interpretability. Three distinct intuitive conceptions of centrality are uncovered and existing measures are refined to embody these conceptions. Three measures are developed for each concept, one absolute and one relative measure of the ~entra~~t~ ~ of ~os~tio~ls in a network, and one relenting the degree of centralization of the entire network. The implications of these measures for the experimental study of small groups is examined. The problem of centrality The idea of centrality as applied to human communication was introduced by Bavelas in 1948. He was specifically concerned with communication in small groups and he hypothesized a relationship between structural centrality and influence in group processes.

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