Changes in personal relationships: How social contexts affect the emergence and discontinuation of relationships

• We find considerable changes in personal relationships within seven years.
• Nonetheless, the number of confidants and practical helpers only slightly changes.
• A major reason for relationship discontinuation is a lack of meeting opportunities.
• A path-dependent use of social contexts affects where new relationships emerge.
• Carefully interpret changes in networks that are delineated by one question.

Although the average number of confidants and practical helpers in Dutch networks only slightly changes over seven years, we found considerable changes among these relationships over these years. To explain the stability of existing relationships as well as the emergence of new ones, we paid attention to meeting opportunities in specific social contexts, such as the work place, family, sports clubs, voluntary associations, and the neighborhood.Notably, we found that a lack of meeting opportunities is an important reason why many personal relationships are discontinued, and that a path-dependent use of social contexts makes new relationships more likely to emerge in a specific context if existing network members are already met in that context. Finally, it is proposed that care should be taken when interpreting changes in personal networks if one relies on information about networks that are delineated using only one name generating question.