RESEARCH_FILE
Lynn Smith-Lovin
Duke University
Known for:Foundational sociological research on how gender and childrearing shape core social-contact networks
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“My friends stopped inviting me since I had kids”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“Half the network shrinks for everyone who becomes a parent. This is a tide, not a verdict.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Write down one specific time in the next week you actually have free time. Tell one person that day in a single sentence. Don't ask permission or apologize. Observe what happens without deciding the meaning beforehand.
Key findings
- 1997
With Munch and McPherson, Smith-Lovin shows childrearing reshapes adults' core social-contact patterns in gender-differentiated ways, laying empirical groundwork for later parenthood-and-networks research. Gender, Children, and Social Contact: The Effects of Childrearing for Men and Women ↗