ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how some forms of interpersonal relations are organized in French society. It uses data from three national sample surveys to study four types of interpersonal ties and the networks they comprise: friendship, love, confidants, and mutual aid. The chapter examines how different kinds of interpersonal ties articulate different relational structures. It also examines how different kinds of interpersonal ties articulate social positions, rather than roles. Social differences manifest themselves in the diverse ways in which ties articulate with one another. The chapter describes the diversity of these modes of articulation, especially according to gender and age. The chapter also focuses on a survey which provides a detailed description of the households, their homes, the members of their households, and their close relatives. This survey of 6,807 household's representative of all of France was carried out between November 1988 and November 1989.
