Ego centered social network and

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security and relational models to
network structure Eszter Berán &
Csaba Pléh & Péter Soltész & Anna
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 Social Networks 55 (2018) 189–201

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Social Networks
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/socnet

Ego centered social network and relationship quality: linking attachment T

security and relational models to network structure
⁎
Eszter Berána, , Csaba Pléhb, Péter Soltésza, Anna Ráczc, Péter Kardosd, Pál Czoborc, Zsolt Unokac
a
Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Psychology Institute, Budapest, Mikszáth tér 1., 1088 Hungary
b
Central European University, Budapest, Oktober 6 street 7, Budapest, 1051, Hungary
c
Semmelweis University, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Budapest, Balassa u. 6., 1083 Hungary
d
Bloomfield College, NJ, USA

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: According to Dunbar’s social brain hypothesis, brain capacity puts a limit on the size of social network in
ego-centered social network humans. At the same time, emotional-cognitive systems such as attachment and different relational models
attachment (Fiske, 1991) may also act as driving forces behind network structure underlying relationship quality of the
relational models various ego-centered layers. The aim of our study was to examine how these cognitive systems may contribute to
network structure
network organization.
We examined the two inner layers of the ego-network in 274 volunteers, the support and sympathy groups, as
well as close family members in comparison to friends within the support group, in terms of attachment security
and underlying relational models.

Brain capacity needed for the formation of individualized relation-
ships puts a limit on social network size in humans (Dunbar & Shultz,
2010; Shultz & Dunbar, 2010). The size and characteristics of various
ego-centered network layers consisting of individual relationships differ
according to the nature of the relationship between the individual
(referred to as the „ego”) and the related person (referred to as the
„alter”) (Hill and Dunbar, 2003). The inner layers consist of the support
group (close friends and kin, 1-5 people) and the sympathy group
(friends, intimate relations, 12-15 people). Relationships in the support
group are characterized by high emotional closeness, and frequent
personal contact.
At the same time, network organization may also be driven by
emotional-cognitive systems underlying relationship quality, like the
attachment system (Bowlby, 1969), and relational models (Fiske,
1991). Quality of attachment to alters may be an important factor
driving ego-centered network organization, influencing the position of
alters in the inner layers. Other such influential factors may be rela-
tional models (RM). RM theory posits that people employ four ele-
mentary cognitive models in interpreting social interactions and re-
lating to others in most aspects of most social interaction in all societies
(Fiske & Haslam, 1996).
Our research questions are centered on the problem of how network
structure may be related to various cognitive relational measures such
as attachment quality and RMs. More specifically, we examined the
above mentioned two inner layers of the ego-centered network in terms
of differentiating them based on relationship quality measured by these
two emotional cognitive systems as well as other measures of network
organization related to attachment, such as, for example, level of trust,
and conflict, or fear of abandonment in relationship.
Psychological interpretation of network variability
According to Dunbar’s social brain hypothesis (Dunbar, 1998;
Dunbar, & Shultz, 2007) the size of the neo-cortex in primates and
humans is determined by the computational demands necessary for
fulfilling those social functions individuals play in large complex social
networks. Dunbar drew this conclusion by examining primates and
finding that the size of the neo-cortex is related to maximal group size
(Dunbar, 1993). Larger group size has an evolutionary advantage
against predators and in competing with other groups. However, since
both primates and humans relate to each other on an individual basis,
there is a need for a larger neo-cortex in order to enable the neural
mechanisms for cognitive systems necessary to maintain social re-
lationships, such as memory-systems (Stiller, & Dunbar, 2007), at-
tachment system (Machin, & Dunbar, 2011; Dunbar & Shultz, 2010;
Nummenmaa et al., 2015), theory of mind (i.e. mentalizing, Dunbar
and Dunbar, 1998; Dunbar, 2003; Stiller, & Dunbar, 2007), and rela-
tional models (Fiske, 1991). Mentalizing, for example, is crucial in

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: beran.eszter@btk.ppke.hu (E. Berán).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2018.07.002

Available online 01 August 2018

0378-8733/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
E. Berán et al. Social Networks 55 (2018) 189–201

of the social network endowing both partners of the attachment re-

lationship (child-parent, relatives, friends, and romantic partners) with
specific motivational, behavioral, emotional and cognitive mechanism,
as well as communicational cues to coordinate their interactions and to
maximize their reproductive or inclusive fitness (Simpson & Belsky,
2008). In attachment research it was consistently found that the po-
tential numbers of attachment figures are not limitless, and their
number is similar to the size of the support group (3-5 individuals).
Infants observed in diverse cultures such as Nigeria (Marvin et al.,
1977) and Germany (Grossmann & Grossmann, 1991) were attached to
no more than three or four attachment figures, and American young
adults had three to six attachment bonds (Trinke, & Bartholomew,
1997). Although most humans have multiple attachment figures,
Bowlby (1958, 1969/1982) proposed that there is a strong tendency for
infants to prefer a principal attachment figure for comfort and security,
Fig. 1. Dunbar’s model of the ego-centered social network layers. which he called ‘monotropy’. However, several studies have indicated
that an infant can form different types of attachments to different
caregivers (e.g., Belsky & Rovine, 1987; Grossmann et al., 1981; Main &
keeping up social relationships, because it involves modeling others’
Weston, 1981), thus questioning the monthropical model. Bowlby also
mind-states. However, the cognitive costs of mentalizing put a con-
claims that attachment (both in terms of the behavioral system and the
straint on group size: Stiller and Dunbar (2007) has shown that the size
need for attachment) continues into adulthood and includes important
of the support group is influenced by the individual’s mentalizing skills,
attachment figures other than parents. Thus, a person could develope
whereas the size of the sympathy group is influenced by the individual’s
multiple internalised working models and is able to flexibly update
memory capacity.
them (Bowlby, 1980, 1988).
Dunbar and his coworkers, thus, describe human network organi-
According to the social network model of attachment, the various
zations as having an evolutionary origin (Dunbar & Shultz, 2010; Hill &
systems of relationships develop in a parallel manner in order to satisfy
Dunbar, 2003; Dunbar, 1998), which has developed as a result of early
various needs of the individual (Lewis, 2005; La Guardia et al., 2000).
humanoids living in large groups of a size of 130 – 150 individuals.
Each person from infanthood to adulthood develops close relationships
According to Dunbar and Spoors (1995), the maximum group size
simultaneously within and outside of the family (Antonucci et al. 2004).
surrounding an individual ego in today’s society is similar to ancient
The intimate relationships, which survival is based on, do not consist of
communities or tribes. They suggest that within this large group there
only asymmetric relationships (e.g.: child-caregiver), but also of sym-
are several smaller groups or „layers” surrounding the ego in concentric
metric ones (peer relations). Different relationship categories may serve
circles (see Fig. 1). As Fig. 1 shows, the number of individuals in
distinct attachment functions and have different evolutionary benefits.
hierarchically organized groups surrounding the ego increases by about
For example, the caregiving system is involved in both familial re-
a scalar of three from the inside towards the outside (Zhou et al., 2005).
lationships and romantic relationships, and the sociability and ex-
Ego-centered layers differ from each other also according to their
ploratory systems are possibly more dominant in friendships (Marvin &
function. Inner layers are there for the individual to provide emotional
Britner, 1999; Shaver et al., 1988).
support and information, whereas the outer layers provide protection
Regarding the quality of attachment bonds studies by Ainshworth
against other groups, and the possible source to find close friends and
and Bowlby (Bowlby, 1969; Ainsworth, 1979) identified four styles of
mates (Hill and Dunbar, 2003).
attachment in children about 2 years of age, distinguishing securely
However, maintenance of close relationship and intimacy with an-
attached children from those who were insecurely attached (avoidant,
other person is time and energy consuming for the ego (Hill and
ambivalent, or disorganized). Adult attachment styles were elaborated
Dunbar, 2003). It requires frequent personal contact between the ego
by Hazan and Shaver (1987), as well as by Bartholomew & Horowitz
and the alter. For example, subjectively judged emotional closeness and
(1991). These latter authors measured attachment based on two di-
frequency of personal contact has a linear relationship (Roberts et al.,
mensions: anxiety and avoidance in close relationships. Secure attach-
2009). Thus, the support group represents frequent personal contact
ment in adults is characterized by low anxiety and low avoidance.
(daily or weekly) and more intense emotional connection (at least 8 on
These people (approximately 65% of the population) find it relatively
a scale of 10), whereas the sympathy group represents less frequent
easy to be intimate with or to become emotionally close to others, and
contact (monthly) and less intense emotional bonding. At the same
are comfortable to be mutually dependent on others. Insecurely at-
time, the two outer layers, – clan and tribe – represent even less fre-
tached adults are described by three categories by Bartholomew and
quent contact (yearly), and less intimacy (Hill and Dunbar, 2003).
Horowitz: anxious-preoccupied, dismissive, and fearful avoidant
Group size and strength of relationships are inversely related: ties are
(1991). People with anxious preoccupied style behave highly anxiously
the strongest in the support group, followed by the sympathy group,
about loosing a relationship, feel that others may not reciprocate their
and are the weakest in the outer layers. The ego needs to find the op-
feelings, they score high on the anxiety and low on the avoidant scale.
timal cost-benefit ratio in the number of close versus weak ties he or she
People with a dismissive style feel comfortable without being emo-
maintains (Sutcliffe et al., 2012).
tionally close to others, they score high on the avoidant, and low on
As we mentioned, various cognitive capacities and skills may also
anxiety scale. People with fearful avoidant style long for emotional
contribute to network organization, and even put a limit on the possible
closeness, but find it difficult to trust others completely or to depend on
number of intimates in the support and sympathy groups. Primary
them. They score high both on the anxiety and on the avoidant scales.
among them – as it has been argued (Shultz & Dunbar, 2010; Bickart
Fiori and colleagues (Fiori et al., 2011) investigated attachment quality
et al., 2012) – is emotional relationship between individuals, which
and ego-centered network size and found that individuals with secure
may be related to individual size variations in human amygdala.
attachment styles had a more extended network than insecurely at-
tached people. High reciprocity also characterized such secure re-
The possible role of attachment in network organization lationships.
In our study we use the social network model theory of attachment,
The attachment system has evolved to organize the most inner layer assuming that individuals may have various parallel attachment

190
E. Berán et al.
relations, relating to alters in differing attachment styles. Based on the
social network model of attachment we examined how the two inner
layers, the support group and the sympathy group differ in terms of
attachment quality, by adopting Bartholomew and Horowitz’s four ca-
tegory model to characterize attachment in various relationships.
Because the support group represents the closest emotional ties within
the network, we specifically hypothesized more secure attachment in
the support group than in the sympathy group.
We also examined other measures that might be related to the
quality of attachment between ego and alter, such as level of conflict
and stress between ego and alter, fear of abandonment, level of trust in
the relationship, assuming bad intentions in the alter as perceived by
the ego, similarity of world view with the alter, and importance of the
ego for the alter as perceived by the ego. Level of conflict and stress
between ego and alter may influence relationship quality and may be
related to attachment style as well as to network structure (Dunbar &
Machin, 2014). For example, examining conflict in relationships it was
found that frequency of angry conflict predicted dissatisfaction and
dissolution in couples (Gill et al., 1999), and that secure attachment
was related to mutual conflict resolution styles (Corcoran and
Mallinckrodt, 2000); also, that partners’ own attachment anxiety and
avoidance predicted their experience of conflict levels (Brassard et al.,
2009). Fear of abandonment has been shown to be an important un-
derlying factor in attachment style categorization, as a marker of an-
xious attachment (Collins, & Read, 1990).
Dunbar considers trust to be central to friendships (in the broad
sense), because it underpins how people interact with each other, their
willingness to offer help, and even trade (Dunbar, 2018). A study by
Mikulincer (1998) showed a link between attachment security and level
of trust in the relationship. Securely, as opposed to insecurely attached
individuals felt more trust toward partners, showed higher accessibility
of positive trust-related memories, reported more positive trust epi-
sodes, and adopted more constructive strategies in coping with viola-
tions of trust. Assuming bad intentions in the alter signals lack of trust in
the relationship.
Dunbar mentions similarity of religion, education, and social values
among factors characterizing friendships (Dunbar, 2018). We argue,
that these factors taken together as similarity of world view with alters
may be related to attachment quality as well. For example, similarity in
political opinions has been observed in married couples (Stoker &
Jennings, 2006; Zuckerman et al., 2005), whereas religious dissim-
ilarity has been linked to marital dissatisfaction (Curtis, & Ellison,
2002). Importance of the ego for the alter: the main idea in attachment
representation is that the subject is very important for the securely
attached attachment figure (Bowlby, 1980, 1988).
In relation to our hypothesis of secure attachment being more
characteristic of the support group, we hypothesized that the support
group will be characterized by less conflict, fear of abandonment, and
attribution of bad intentions to the alter, as opposed to more trust, si-
milarity of world view, and importance in comparison to the sympathy
group.
We also investigated the compositions of the support group in terms
of attachment security. We wanted to find out if there are any differ-
ences between types of alters, namely friends and kin within the support
group, as suggested by Roberts and coworkers (Roberts et al., 2009).
They showed that in case of relatives as opposed to friends, there are
many relations with intense and many with little emotional investment.
We hypothesized that within the support group family members will be
characterized by more secure attachment, in comparison to friends, due
to ‘kinship premium’ (Dunbar & Machin, 2014). Since demographic
variables such as age and gender have been shown to influence network
structure (McPherson et al., 2006; Roberts et al., 2008; Roberts et al.,
2009), we also included these variables in our analysis as moderator
variables, hypothesizing, that they may interact with attachment se-
curity in contributing to network structure.
191
Social Networks 55 (2018) 189–201
Relational Models (RM) and ego-centered network
Another question we investigated in our study is how network or-
ganization may be related to Fiske’s (1991) RM types. RM is a cognitive
schema based on the type of social relationship between two in-
dividuals. Fiske established four types of RMs, based on the interacting
partners’ contribution to the relationship.
Communal sharing is the first kind of model, in which people treat
each other as equivalent and undifferentiated in terms of contribution
to the community. This may occur in a close community when the
members share common resources or, for instance, within a family. In
an authority ranking relational model, people have asymmetric posi-
tions in a hierarchy, in which subordinates defer, respect and obey,
while superiors take precedence and control. Equality matching is the
third kind of RM, according to which participants keep track of the
balance or difference of contribution, and know what is required to
restore the balance - for example, friends inviting and re-inviting each
other to have dinner at their homes. The fourth type of RM is market
pricing, in which relationships are oriented by socially meaningful ra-
tios or rates, such as prices, wages, interest rates, rents, or cost-benefit
analysis.
The second major aim of the study was to find out how the un-
derlying cognitive system of RMs contributes to ego-centered network
organization. Since there have been no previous studies of this kind,
this was an exploratory approach. We examined the inner network
layers in terms of ego-alter RM type by comparing the support group
with the sympathy group, as well as comparing relationship to close
family members and friends within the support group. We hypothesized
that RM towards a given alter will be related to the alter’s position in
the sympathy or support group, and that there will be more communal
sharing in the support group than in the sympathy group. We also
hypothesized that within the support group the ego’s RM patterns to-
wards a given alter would be specific to the type of relationship: family
relations (parents, caregivers, siblings, and children) will differ from
friendships in that family members will be characterized by communal
sharing, whereas friends will be characterized by equality matching.
Because of previous findings mentioned above we also included age and
gender in our analysis as moderator variables, hypothesizing, that they
may interact with RM type in contributing to network structure.
Methods
Participants
Participants of the study were 274 volunteers, 62 males (22.63%),
and 212 (77.37%) females. Participants were reached through uni-
versity students, using the snowball (expanding selection) method. This
was a convenience sample, not representative of the Hungarian popu-
lation as a whole. Mean age of participants was 29.83 years,
(SD = 11.80, range: 18-67). Participants’ education was the following:
Elementary school: 19 (6.93%), vocational school: 48 (17.52%), high
school: 130 (47.45%), university or post-gradual: 77 (28.1%).
According to population census 2011 data (KSH, 2015), among the
Hungarian population the education of the same age group was the
following: elementary school 12.51%, vocational school 19.78 %, high
school 39.25%, university or post gradual degree 28.46%. At the time
of testing 212 participants (77.37%) had an intimate relationship
partner, and 62 (22.63%) did not have one. Participants’ family status
was the following: 49 (17.88%) was married, 69 (25.18%) was living
with stable partner, but not married, 10 (3.65%) was divorced, 143
(52.19%) was living alone, and 3 (1.09%) persons were widowed. Ac-
cording to Hungarian population census 2011 (KSH, 2015) data, the
family status of the same age group was the following: 19.8 % was
married, 78.2%, was not married, 1.9% was divorced, and 0.1% was a
widow. Residence of the participants was in Budapest (capital): 165
(60.22%), other city: 82 (29.92%), small town: 27 (9.85%). According
E. Berán et al.
to Hungarian census 2011 data (KSH, 2015), residence in the total
population of Hungary was the following: Budapest (capital): 17.34%,
other city: 51.78%, small town: 30.88%.
All participants provided informed consent, and the entire study
was approved by the Ethical Committee of Human Subjects at
Semmelweis University, Budapest.
Procedures
Participants completed an online questionnaire. First, they were
asked to list all the people that they contact at least monthly and have
some sort of personal relationship with (spend free time together and/
or discuss personal matters). This “name generator” question used the
following wording in Hungarian: “Please list all the people (be it your
partner, relative, friend, colleague, schoolmate, neighbor, other ac-
quaintance) that you contact at least monthly (in person or via tele-
phone, email or other channel) and you have some sort of personal
relationship with (you spend your free time together and/or discuss
personal matters).”
Following the listing, participants were asked to add to the list all
the people to whom they feel emotionally close, regardless of whether
that tie is positive, negative or mixed and regardless of the frequency of
contact. This, second “name generator” question used the following
wording in Hungarian: “On the previous page we asked you to list all
those acquaintances that you contact at least monthly. In the next task
contact frequency does not matter: If they were missing from the pre-
vious list, please list all the people to whom you feel a close emotional
tie, regardless of whether that tie is positive, negative or mixed and
regardless of the frequency of your contact. Be sure to include the fol-
lowing people if they were not listed previously (and if they are still
alive): your partner, your mother (or step mother), your father (or step
father), your brothers and sisters, your best friends.”
Following the participant’s listing all potential alters they wanted to
include, attachment to individual alters, RM models, and further related
questions were assessed by inserting a given alter’s name in a specific
question. This way all questions were asked for all individual alters the
participant listed while answering the two name generator questions.
The completion of the total questionnaire (including some other ques-
tions not discussed in this paper) lasted about 1 to 2 hours, depending
on the total number of alters listed initially.
Measurements
For all the names that had been elicited, respondents had to eval-
uate the ego-alter ties along the following dimensions:
• Type of relationship they had with the alter (partner, parent, sibling,
son/daughter, other relative, friend, ex-partner, colleague, school-
mate, neighbor, other);
• Duration of the relationship: whether the ego had known the alter
for a) less than half a year, b) for half a year to one year, c) for 1 year
to 3 years, d) for 3 years to 10 years, or e) the relationship lasted for
more than 10 years;
• Average frequency of personal contact in the relationship: a) daily,
b) weekly, c) monthly, d) yearly, e) a few times a year, f) less fre-
quently than a year, g) never;
• Emotional closeness in the relationship (on a 0-9 scale, 0 indicating
no closeness at all, and 9 indicating a very close relationship);
• Level of conflict and emotional stress in the relationship (0-6 scale, 0
indicating no conflicts and stress at all, 6 indicating very high
conflict and stress);
• Fear of abandonment in the relationship: how much they afraid that
the alter terminates the relationship (0-6 scale, 0 indicating no fear
at all, and 6 indicating high fear of abandonment);
• Level of trust in the relationship: to what extent they feel that they
can trust the alter (0-6 scale, 0 indicating no trust at all, 6 indicating
192
Social Networks 55 (2018) 189–201
very high level of trust);
• Assuming bad intentions in the alter: to what extent they believe
that the alter would harm them on purpose if they could benefit
from that (0-6 scale, 0 indicating not at all, 6 indicating very much);
• Similarity of world view is with the alter, 0-6 scale, 0 indicating not
at all, 6 indicating very much so;
• Importance of the ego for the alter, as perceived by the ego, 0-6
scale, 0 indicating not at all, 6 indicating very much so;
• Attachment of the ego to alters was measured using Bartholomew &
Horowitz (1991) Relationship Questionnaire, measuring attachment
styles in relationships: secure, anxious-preoccupied, fearful-avoi-
dant, and dismissive, which characterizations respondents rated on
a 7 point Likert scale – difference from the original text of the
questionnaire was that relationship characterizations were not
general, but specific to a given ego-alter tie by mentioning the alter’s
name;
• Relational Models (Fiske & Haslam, 1996; Fiske, 1991) used towards
alters – communal sharing, authority ranking, equality matching,
and market pricing – were also assessed by rating each character-
ization on a 7 point Likert scale. Characterizations of RMs were
originally created by us in Hungarian language, because short
characterizations suitable for our questionnaire were not available
in the literature. Here we give the English translation for each
model. We must note that labels of RMs did not appear on the screen
for the participants, only the descriptions themselves.
Communal sharing: “In my relationship with X, we feel we belong
together. We help each other and share with each other whatever we
have. We do not keep track of how much each of us contributes to the
relationship.”
Authority ranking: “In my relationship with X one of us is typically
the initiator, decision maker, whereas the other usually follows him/
her. The decision maker receives more attention and is allowed more
freedom in the relationship, at the same time, however he/she is the
one who provides protection and caring for the other.”
At this question we also asked about the direction of the relation-
ship: “Typically who is the decision maker in the relationship?”
Answers: “It is typically me”, or “It is typically X.”
Equality matching: “In my relationship with X we are equal partners.
We help each other, but at the same time we pay attention to contribute
equally to the relationship, and we feel uneasy if the balance in our
relationship contribution becomes upset.”
Market pricing: “My relationship with X is based on mutual interest.
We expect from each other a fair compensation for our invested energy,
time, and money.”
Respondents were also asked to provide demographic information
about themselves, including age, highest educational qualification,
whether they had a partner or not and the type of location (e.g. city,
small town, etc.) they lived in. Furthermore, they had to indicate the
gender and estimated age of all of their alters.
The support group – based on Dunbar and his coworkers (Hill and
Dunbar, 2003; Roberts et al., 2008; Roberts et al., 2009) – was defined
by two variables: weekly or more frequent personal contact, and 8
point, or higher on the 10 point emotional closeness scale. We defined
the sympathy group as alters listed outside of the support group based
on the criteria included in the two name generators. However, since
based on the instructions of the second name generator participants
may have included negative emotional ties, we correlated two negative
items of our questionnaire with emotional closeness in the data: ‘level
of conflict and stress in the relationship’, and ‘assuming bad intentions
in the alter’. We used Spearman’s correlation to calculate this. Ac-
cording to our results, ‘level of conflict and stress in the relationship’
and ‘assuming bad intentions in the alter’ have a weak, negative re-
lationship with emotional closeness (rs = -0.11, p < 0.001, and rs =
-0.29, p < 0.001, respectively), thus it seems to have a very low
probability that participants interpreted emotional closeness in a way of
E. Berán et al. Social Networks 55 (2018) 189–201

including negative ties. Another way we have addressed the problem of
including negative ties was looking at the means of the two above
mentioned variables. The mean of the variable ‘level of conflict and
stress in the relationship’ is very low (M = 1.3, SD = 1.67), as well as
that of the variable ‘assuming bad intentions in the alter’ (M = 0.4,
SD = 1.05), whereas the variable ‘emotional closeness’ has a higher
mean (M = 5.68, SD = 2.55). This suggest that despite the possibility
for including negative ties among the alters, participants included very
few of such ties in our data set.
Data structure and statistical analysis
Our data collection captured the participants’ ego-network. Each
participant listed k alters, and for all k alters the same number of
questions were answered. These either were questions about the alter of
the participant (alter questions), or about the relationship between the
alter and the ego (ego-alter questions). Besides there were questions
reflecting the participant only (ego questions).
Thus, two databases were created: a database with n entries (ego
database), and another with n*kn entries (ego-alter) database. The two
databases were linked by ego identifiers to extend the longer database
in order to be able to include both alter and ego level variables in the
analyses.
Our data are necessarily interdependent. Our data analyses were
based on maximum likelihood approach: hierarchical linear modeling
(Lindley & Smith, 1972; Bryk & Raudenbush, 1992; Gibbons et al.,
1988; Jennrich & Schluchter, 1986) implemented via the Statistical
Analysis System (SAS) version 14 (the GLIMMIX Procedure). This ap-
proach accounts for correlations between observations that are struc-
tured into clusters, for example, those belonging to a particular ego. For
most of the analyses we used Generalized Linear Mixed Models
(GLIMMIX, SAS 9.2), which can handle categorical data with non-
normal distributions (e.g., Poisson and binomial); and the different
number of measurement levels per individual by taking the individuals
(i.e., the repeated assessment which involve the same individual) as
random factors. In case a significant relationship was found in the
GLIMMIX model, we computed Least-Squares means (LS-means) in
order to further characterize the direction of the associations.
For analyses that were not using alter data the database was col-
lapsed per individual, and used on a regular one line per participant
(i.e., one row of observations) basis. Besides the participant ego an-
swers, this collapsed version also comprised derived ego level data,
including the number of alters listed, or other variables aggregated
from the participant’s ego-alter or alter data.
Using GLIMMIX procedure we examined differences within the
support group between family members and friends. We created a
variable called ‘Family’ that included parents, children, siblings, and
partners. We included not only kin, but also partner, because of the
close emotional tie typical in such relationships. For the ‘Friends’
variable, we used the original questionnaire, where participants chose
the label “friend” to indicate relationship with the specific alter. In the
analysis we used a grouping variable ‘Family and friends’ based on
these two variables. We created this grouping variable in order to
compare various effects within the support group.
was 9.36 (SD = 7.75; range: 0-51). Following the first name generator,
participants responded to the second name generator, listing additional
alters, for which the mean was 2.24 (SD = 2.9; range: 0-17).
Mean age for alters was 33.76, (SD = 16.73; range: 0-94). Since the
age distribution of alters showed a Poisson distribution (with higher
ages occurring with increasingly lower frequency in the database), we
calculated relationship between total network size (i.e. total number of
alters), size of the support and sympathy groups in relation to age and
gender in a GLIMMIX analysis model. In total network size there was no
main effect for gender, F (1, 270) = 2.03, p = 0.15). We found a main
effect for age, F (1, 270) = 16.34, p < .0001, with LS means indicating
that total network size was negatively related to age of the ego: for 20
years of age, for males LSM = 15.1 (SE = 2.05); for females
LSM = 13.2 (SE = 0.8); for 55 years of age male, LSM = 5.2 (SE = 1.4);
for female LSM = 8.3 (SE = 1.2), and there was no interaction between
gender and age, F (1, 270) = 2.55, p = 0.11
In the support group, there was no main effect for gender, F (1,
270) = 0.73, p = 0.39. However, there was a main effect for age, F (1,
270) = 5.83, p = 0.016, LS means indicating that size of the support
group showed a decrease with age: for 20 years of age male LSM = 2.9
(SE = 0.5), female LSM = 3.7 (SE = 0.3); for 55 years of age male
LSM = 1.9 (SE = 0.5), female LSM = 2.1 (SE = 0.4). There was no in-
teraction between gender and age, F (1,270) = 0.11, p = 0.74.
In the sympathy group there was no main effect for gender, F (1,
270) = 3.24, p = 0.07; however, there was a main effect for age F
(1,270) = 12.75, p = 0.0004, LS means indicating that group size
decreased with age: for 20 years of age male LSM = 12.3 (SE = 2.0),
female LSM = 9.5 (SE = 0.7); for 55 years of age male LSM = 3.4
(SE = 1.15), for female LSM = 6.2 (SE = 1.1). And again there was no
interaction between gender and age, F (1, 270) = 3.25, p = 0.07.
Relationships listed were categorized by relationship duration by
the participants: 101 (3.18%) relations were listed, in which partici-
pants knew their alters for less than half a year, 219 (6.89%) relations
had lasted for half a year to one year, 594 (18.69%) for 1 year to 3
years, 892 (28.07%) for 3 years to 10 years, and 1372 (43.17%) re-
lationships listed had lasted for more than 10 years. Descriptive in-
formation on the frequencies of the various alter types in the data set is
presented in Table 1.
Alter types in support and sympathy groups
The mean size of the support group was 3.12 (SD = 2.63; range: 0
-17), and the mean size of the sympathy group in addition to the sup-
port group was 8.47 people (SD = 8.28; range: 0-52), respectively. We
used the Chi-square test to compare alter composition in the support
and sympathy groups. Since the number of alters could vary across
egos, for the analyses we applied the weighted approach, with the
Table 1
Frequencies and percentages of alter types in the total data set, and by gender.
AlterType Total Frequency (%) Female ego Frequency Male ego
(%) Frequency
(%)

Partner 150 (4.72) 121 (4.8) 29(4.41)

Results Parent/guardian 376 (11.83) 309 (12.26) 67 (10.20)
Siblings 303 (9.53) 242 (9.6) 61(9.28)
Alters data Daughter/son 81 (2.55) 60 (2.38) 21 (3.2)
Other relative 379 (11.93) 306 (12.14) 73 (11.11)
Friend 1065 (33.51) 829 (32.88) 236 (35.92)
Participants listed 3178 related alters, among them there was 1872 Ex-partner 77 (2.42) 55 (2.18) 22 (3.35)
(58.90%) female, and 1306 (41.10%) male. There was a significant Colleague 155 (4.88) 105 (4.17%) 50 (7.61)
relationship between ego-gender and alter-gender. Females listed 1577 Schoolmate 213 (6.70) 181 (7.18) 32 (4.84)
Neighbor 60 (1.89) 50 (1.98) 10 (1.52)
female alters, and 944 male alters, males listed 295 female alters, and
Other 319 (10.04) 263 (10.43) 56 (8.52)
362 male alters, (chi-squared = 67.1, p < 0.0001). The mean number χ2 test for gender 27.5826*
for alters listed by each participant was 11.60 (SD = 9.04; range: 1-55).
Responding to the first name generator the mean number of alters listed Note. * = p = 0.0021.

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E. Berán et al. Social Networks 55 (2018) 189–201

Table 2
Crosstabulation for alter types in support and sympathy groups weighted by number of alters.
Freq. Partner (%) Parent/Gardian Siblings (%) Daughter /Son Other Friend Ex-partner Colleague School- Neighbor Other Total
Percent (%) (%) relative (%) (%) (%) mate (%) (%) (%)
(%) (%)

Sympathy 745 (1.60) 3009 2968 283 6460 15178 1164 2650 4792 1002 8265 46516
group (6.47) (6.83) (0.61) (13.89) (32.63) (2.50) (5.70) (10.30) (2.15) (17.77) (78.62)
Support group 943 2153 1983 656 1055 4652 97 285 339 112 371 12646
(7.46) (17.03) (15.68) (5.19) (8.34) (36.79) (0.77) (2.25) (2.68) (0.89) (2.93) (21.38)
χ2test 7725.64*

Note. * = p < 0.001

number of alters used as weights in the computation of Chi-square test- Table 4

statistics). Results are presented in Table 2, showing a significant dif- LS Means and standard errors for differences of support and sympathy groups.
ference in group composition between the support group and the Measure Group LS Means SE
sympathy group.
Secure attachment sympathy 3.53 0.01
support 5.31 0.01
Fearful-Avoidant attachment sympathy 1.40 0.02
Ego-alter attachment in relation to age in support and sympathy support 0.56 0.1
groups Preoccupied atatchment sympathy 1.20 0.03
support 0.67 0.1
Secure attachment. Using GLIMMIX procedure we found a significant Dismissive attachment sympathy 0.75 0.02
support 0.10 0.06
relationship for group type (for F-values and significance see Table 3) in
Communal sharing RM sympathy 3.22 0.01
ego-alter secure attachment, secure attachment being higher in the support 5.12 0.01
support group than in the sympathy group (for LS-means see Table 4). Authority ranking RM sympathy 1.64 0.02
There was a main effect for age (Table 3, Fig. 2.a), with no interaction support 2.05 0.03
Equality matching RM sympathy 3.30 0.01
(Table 3).
support 4.55 0.01
Fearful-Avoidant attachment. There was a significant main effect of Market pricing RM sympathy 1.55 0.03
group type on fearful-avoidant attachment (Table 3), LS means showing support 1.49 0.05
that it was lower in the support group than in the sympathy group
(Table 4), with no main effect for age (Table 3, Fig. 2.b), or interaction Note. SE = Standard error; DF for all variables in the table = 228.
(Table 3).
Anxious-preoccupied attachment. There was a significant group type Ego-alter relations in relation to age of Fiske’s RMs in the support
effect on anxious-preoccupied attachment (Table 3), LS means showing and sympathy groups
that it was lower in the support group (Table 4). There was also a
significant main effect for age on preoccupied attachment (Table 3), LS Communal sharing. Using the GLIMMIX procedure we found a sig-
means indicating that with increasing age the level of preoccupied at- nificant association between group type on communal sharing RM
tachment is higher in both groups (Fig. 2.c). There was no interaction (Table 5), with LS means indicating that communal sharing is more
between age and group type (Table 3). prevalent in the support group than in the sympathy group (Table 4).
Dismissive attachment. In case of dismissive attachment between ego There was no main effect for age (Table 5, Fig. 3a), or interaction
and alter, there was a significant main effect of group type (Table 3), LS (Table 5).
means indicating that dismissive attachment was lower in the support Authority ranking. There was no main effect for group type on au-
group (Table 4). There was also a main effect for age (Table 3), LS thority ranking RM (Table 5). There was a main effect for age, however
means indicating that with increasing age there was an increase in (Table 5), LS means indicating that with increasing age authority
dismissive attachment in both groups (Fig. 2.d), with no interaction ranking was higher in both groups (Fig. 3.b). There was no interaction
between group type and age Table 3). effect between age and group type (Table 5).
Equality matching. For equality matching there was a significant
main effect for group type (Table 5), LS means indicating that equality
Table 3 matching was more frequent in the support group (Table 4). There was
Ego-alter attachment in relation to age in support and sympathy groups. no main effect for age (Table 5, Fig. 3.c), and no interaction (Table 5).
Attachment type F df p Market pricing. For market pricing RM, there was no main effect for
group type (Table 5), but there was a main effect for age (Table 5), LS
Secure
means indicating that with increasing age, market pricing increased in
(A) Group type 85.97 1.228 < .0001
(B) Age 5.32 1.272 .0219 both groups (Fig. 3.d). There was no interaction between group type
A x B (Interaction) 0.77 1.290 .77 and age (Table 5).
Fearful-Avoidant
(C) Group type 16.84 1.228 < .0001
(D) Age 2.50 1.272 .11 Comparison of alter types within the support group – attachment
C x D (Interaction) 0.70 1.290 .40
and Fisk’s RMs in relation to gender
Anxious preoccupied
(E) Group type 9.45 1.228 .0024
(F) Age 8.50 1.272 .0038 We used a GLIMMIX procedure to compare alter types of Family and
E x F (Interaction) 0.28 1.290 .59 Friends variables within the support group. First, we examined at-
Dismissive tachment in relation to gender.
(G) Group type 15.20 1.228 .0001
Secure attachment. In secure attachment there was a main effect for
(H) Age 85.97 1.272 < .0001
G x H (Interaction) 5.32 1.290 .0219 friend or family relationships (for F-values and significance see
Table 6), with LS means indicating that secure attachment was more

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E. Berán et al.
Fig. 2. a,b,c,d Attachment types according to group and age.
frequent in family relationships: LSM for Family = 5.5 (SE = 0.1), LSM
for Friends = 5.2 (SE = 0.1). There was no main effect for gender
(Table 6); however, there was an interaction between group type (fa-
mily vs. friends) and gender (Table 6), LS means indicating that women
were more securely attached with family members than friends:
LSM = 5.5 (SE = 0.1), and LSM = 5.2 (SE = 0.1), respectively. For men
the opposite was the case: LSM = 5.2 (SE = 0.1), LSM = 5.5 (SE = 0.2)
for family members and friends respectively.
Fearful-Avoidant attachment. In fearful-avoidant attachment, there
was no main effect for the Family and friends variable (Table 6). There
was a main effect for gender (Table 6), LS means indicating that men
had higher avoidance than women in both groups. In the family group
LSM = 0.8 (SE = 0.1), LSM = 0.5 (SE = 0.1) for men and women re-
spectively; in the friend group LSM = 0.8 (SE = 0.2), LSM = 0.5
(SE = 0.1) for men and women respectively. There was no interaction
between group belonging and gender (Table 6).
Anxious-preoccupied attachment. For anxious-preoccupied attach-
ment, there was no main effect for the ‘Family or friend’ variable
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Social Networks 55 (2018) 189–201
(Table 6), there was no main effect for gender (Table 6), and there was
no interaction (Table 6).
Dismissive attachment. For dismissive attachment there was no main
effect for the ‘Family or friend’ variable (Table 6). However, there was a
main effect for gender (Table 6), LS means indicating that men had a
higher level of dismissive attachment within both family and friend
groups than women. In the family group LSM for men = 1.4 (SE = 0.2),
LSM for women = 1.0 (SE = 0.1); for the friend group LSM for
men = 1.4, (SE = 0.3), LSM for women = 1.1, (SE = 0.1). There was
no interaction between group type and gender (Table 6).
Using the same GLIMMIX procedure we examined differences in
RMs within the support group between family members and friends.
Communal sharing. For communal sharing there was a significant
main effect for group type (for F-values and significance see Table 7), LS
means indicating, that communal sharing was higher in the family than
in the friend group, LSM = 5.3 (SE = 0.1), LSM = 5.0 (SE = 0.1) re-
spectively. There was no main effect for gender (Table 7), or interaction
(Table 7).
E. Berán et al. Social Networks 55 (2018) 189–201

Table 5 Level of trust in the relationship. There was a significant main effect
Ego-alter relations in relation to age of Fiske’s RMs in the support and sympathy for group type, F (1, 228) = 33.87, p < 0.0001, LS means indicating
groups. that trust in alters was higher in the support group than in the sympathy
Relational Model type F df p group. LSM for support group = 5.3 (SE = 0.1), LSM for sympathy
group = 4.2 (SE = 0.0). There was a significant main effect for age, F
Communal sharing (1, 272) = 4.45, p = 0.0358, LS means indicating that with an increase
(A) Group type 96.98 1.228 .0001
of age (Fig. 4.c) trust decreased in both groups. There was no interac-
(B) Age 0.01 1.272 .90
A x B (Interaction) 0.23 1.290 .63 tion between age and group type F (1, 2902) = 0.25, p = 0.61.
Authority Ranking Assuming bad intentions in the alter. There was no main effect for
(C) Group type 0.42 1.228 .51 group type F (1, 228) = 0.47, p = 0.49. There was no main effect for
(D) Age 147.30 1.272 < .0001 age, F (1, 272) = 0.66, p = 0.41 (Fig. 4.d), and there was no interac-
C x D (Interaction) 3.82 1.290 .05
Equality Matching
tion, F (1, 2902) = 1.15, p = 0.28.
(E) Group type 64.49 1.228 < .0001 Similarity of world view. There was a main effect for group type F
(F) Age 2.46 1.272 .11 (1,228) = 36.71, p < 0.0001. LS means indicating that similarity of
E x F (Interaction) 2.67 1.290 .10 world view was higher in the support group than in the sympathy
Market Pricing
group. LSM for support group = 4.3 (SE = 0.1), LSM for sympathy
(G) Group type 2.65 1.228 .10
(H) Age 109.31 1.272 < .0001 group = 3.3, (SE = 0.0). There was no main effect for age, F (1,
G x H (Interaction) 3.12 1.290 .07 272) = 0.76, p = 38.43 (Fig. 5.a), and there was no interaction be-
tween group type and age, F (1, 2902) = 0.01, p = 0.93.
How important the ego is for the alter – as perceived by the ego. There
was a main effect for group type F (1, 228) = 82.71, p < 0.0001. LS
Authority ranking. For authority ranking there was a main effect for means indicating that participants assume that they are more important
the family or friend variable (Table 7), LS means indicating that au- for the alter, in case the alter belongs to the support group rather than
thority ranking was higher in the family group than in the friend group. the sympathy group. LSM for support group = 5.3 (SE = 0.1), LSM for
For family LSM = 2.4 (SE = 0.1), for friends LSM = 1.7, (SE = 0.1). sympathy group = 3.5, (SE = 0.0). There was no main effect for age, F
There was a main effect for gender (Table 7), LS means indicating that (1, 272) = 1.26, p = 0.26 (Fig. 5.b), and no interaction, F (1,
authority ranking was higher for men than for women in both groups. 2902) = 2.04, p = 0.15.
For family, LSM for men = 2.7 (SE = 0.2), LSM for women = 2.3
(SE = 0.1); for friends, LSM for men = 2.5 (SE = 0.3), LSM for Discussion
women = 1.6 (SE = 0.1). There was no interaction between group type
and gender (Table 7). In the study we investigated the structure and characteristics of the
Equality matching. For equality matching there was a main effect for ego-centered social network. We described the two inner layers of the
the “Family and friends” variable (Table 7), LS means indicating that Dunbarian model, namely the support and sympathy groups, in terms of
there was more equality matching with friends than with family. LSM cognitive models potentially contributing to network structure, and
for family = 4.5, (SE = 0.1), LSM for friends = 4.7 (SE = 0.09). There relationship characteristics within the network: attachment quality and
was also a main effect for gender (Table 7), LS means indicating that RMs – thereby filling a gap in the ego-centered network literature. In
women had a higher score for equality matching than men in both the general, our results show a differentiation of the two inner layers in
family, and the friends group. For family LSM for women = 4.5 terms of the above mentioned characteristics.
(SE = 0.1), LSM for men = 4.2 (SE = 0.2); for friends LSM for As our results indicate, we replicated previous findings as far as the
women = 4.8 (SE = 0.1), LSM for men = 4.3 (SE = 0.25). There was average size of support and sympathy groups (Dunbar & Spoors, 1995).
no interaction for group type and gender (Table 7). We also found a homophile effect by gender in that female ego’s net-
Market pricing. In market pricing none of the effects were significant. work were dominated by females, male ego networks were dominated
Thus, there was no main effect for group type (Table 7), no main effect by males, as shown in previous studies (McPherson et al., 2006; Roberts
for gender (Table 7), and no interaction between group type and gender et al., 2008). In addition, total network size, and within this, both the
(Table 7). support and sympathy groups showed a decrease with age, as shown
previously (Fung et al., 2001; Marsden, 1987), although McPherson and
colleagues found no such association (McPherson et al., 2006).
Further characteristics of relationship quality Among the alter types participants indicated, one third of the total
relations listed were ‘friends’. Composition of support and sympathy
Additionally, we used the GLIMMIX procedure and compared fur- groups were found to differ also in terms of proportion of alter types.
ther characteristics of the relationships quality within the support and Friends as alters dominated both the support and sympathy groups in
sympathy groups in relation to age. Detailed results are presented in the about equal proportion, which finding is in accordance with previous
section below. results (Hill and Dunbar, 2003). Partners, parents, children and siblings
Level of conflict in the relationship. There was no main effect for group were more likely to belong to the support group, whereas ex-partners,
type, F (1, 228) = 0.26, p = 0.61, no main effect for age, F (1, colleagues, school-mates, neighbors and others were more likely to
272) = 1.23, p = 0.26 (Fig. 4.a), and no interaction F (1, belong to the sympathy group.
2902) = 0.00, p = 0.95. In accordance with our hypothesis the support and sympathy groups
Fear of abandonment. There was no main effect for group type, F (1, differ in terms of security of attachment and the type of RM. The sup-
228) = 1. 25, p = 0.26. There was a main effect for age F (1, port group is characterized by secure attachment, communal sharing
272) = 4.88, p = 0.028, LS means indicating that with an increase of and equality matching RMs. In comparison to the support group, the
age fear of abandonment increased in both groups (Fig. 4.b). There was sympathy group is characterized by more insecure attachment (more
no interaction between group type and age, F (1, 2902) = 0.29, p = avoidant, anxious preoccupied, and dismissive attachment), and less
0.59. communal sharing and equality matching RMs. In terms of attachment,

196
E. Berán et al.
Fig. 3. a, b,c,d Relational model types according to group and age.
secure attachment quality in the relationship is characterized by emo-
tional closeness and ease with co-dependence (Bartholomew &
Horowitz, 1991). Communal sharing is characterized by a sense of
belonging together, helping each-other without consideration to the
amount of contribution by the parties, whereas in equality matching,
contribution to the relationship is continuously monitored and ba-
lanced by participants (Fiske, 1991). Our results that these relationship
characteristics are more typical in the support group are in accordance
with Dunbar’s emphasis that the function of the inner layers of the
social network is to provide emotional support and unstinting help for
the individual (Hill and Dunbar, 2003; Dunbar, 2018). Even within this,
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Social Networks 55 (2018) 189–201
as our results show, the support group has a unique role, which can be
distinguished from that of the sympathy group. Dunbar (2017) also
claims that due to the unstinting altruism characterizing close friend-
ships score-keeping is not emphasized in the inner layers. Our results
contradict this somewhat, showing that score-keeping is important even
in the support group, which is, as we also showed, distinctly char-
acterized by increased levels of trust, importance of the ego for the
alter, and similarity of world view as compared to the sympathy group.
This latter finding also underlines the importance of similarity of var-
ious personal and social qualities in the inner layers of the network, in
accordance with Curry and Dunbar’s (2013) findings.
E. Berán et al. Social Networks 55 (2018) 189–201

Table 6 quality and RMs. We argued that it would be reasonable to differentiate

Comparison of alter types – friends and family – within the support group in the sub-groups of family and friends within the support group, which
relation to gender: attachment. categories may show a difference in terms of the cognitive models
Attachment type F df p under investigation. As we mentioned above, in our ‘Family’ variable
we included partners, which may have had an influence on RM types
characterizing this group. In accordance with our hypotheses we found
Secure
that within the inner layer we could further differentiate family mem-
(A) Group type 17.10 1.105 < .0001
(B) Gender 0.03 1.232 .8618 bers from friends. Family members were characterized by more secure
A x B (Interaction) 7.59 1.487 .0061 attachment, communal sharing and authority ranking. In contrast,
Fearful-Avoidant friends were characterized by less secure attachment and more equality
(C) Group type 0.21 1.105 .64
matching RMs. These results support the idea of ‘kinship premium’
(D) Gender 7.07 1.232 .0084
C x D (Interaction) 0.31 1.487 .57
(Madsen et al., 2007, Dunbar and Machin, 2014), according to which
Anxious-preoccupied kinship involves higher levels of altruism than friendship. Thus, we are
(E) Group type 2.64 1.105 .10 more willing to mutually depend on kin (secure attachment, authority
(F) Gender 0.88 1.232 .34 ranking), and share resources (communal sharing), whereas in case of
E x F (Interaction) 0.07 1.487 .79
friendships we are more prone to keep scores (equality matching). At
Dismissive
(G) Group type 0.33 1.105 .56 the same time it is possible, that in our closest friendships we try to
(H) Gender 7.10 1.232 .0082 equalize contribution to the relationships in order to be fair with others.
G x H (Interaction) 0.11 1.487 .73 Since family within the support group is characterized by authority
ranking, as well as communal sharing, we suggest that with kin we do
not need equality matching in order to be fair, because contribution to
Table 7 the relationship is either not measured or based on rank order rather
Comparison of alter types – friends and family – within the support group in
than equalizing. Furthermore, we must note that this finding may de-
relation to gender: Relational Models.
pend on cultural value systems. In more traditional, and closed societies
Relational Model type F df p – and such is Hungarian society (Keller, 2010) – authority ranking
might be a characteristic of the family group, whereas this may not be
Communal sharing
(A) Group type 12.59 1.105 .0006 the case in more opened and modernized societies.
(B) Gender 0.89 1.232 .35 We found that in some instances the demographic variable gender
A x B (Interaction) 1.41 1.487 .32 further modified the above picture. For example, women were more
Authority Ranking securely attached to family members than to friends, whereas for men,
(C) Group type 14.54 1.105 .0002
(D) Gender 12.02 1.232 .0006
this was the opposite. These findings reflect Machin and Dunbar’s
C x D (Interaction) 2.38 1.487 .12 (2013) results, who found that males were closer and more intimate
Equality Matching with their best friends than with their romantic partners. Males were
(E) Group type 4.66 1.105 .0332 also more fearful-avoidant and dismissive in relationships than females,
(F) Gender 7.25 1.232 .0076
with both family members and friends. These results are in accordance
E x F (Interaction) 0.13 1.487 .71
Market Pricing with previous findings on gender differences in attachment
(G) Group type 0.30 1.105 .58 (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991; Duggan & Brennan, 1994). Authority
(H) Gender 0.75 1.232 .38 ranking was higher for men’s relations than for women’s, whereas
G x H (Interaction) 0.00 1.487 .95 equality matching in relationships was higher for women, and lower for
men. These effects did not interact with belonging to the family or
friend group. These findings show that men’s network is more hier-
We also hypothesized that demographic variables, such as age,
archical even in the support group than women’s, who are more
could possibly modify the above picture. For example, we found that
equalizers in their relationships. This can be related to gender differ-
preoccupied anxious attachment, dismissive attachment, authority
ences in interaction styles and strategies already evident from child-
ranking, and market pricing RMs showed an increase with age.
hood. For example, it has been found that by middle-school age, boys
However, these effects did not interact with belonging to the support or
interact more in large, hierarchical groups than girls (Daniels-Beirness,
sympathy group. Keeping in mind that the age range of the participants
1989; Fabes et al., 2003; Ladd, 1983), at the same time, girls have
was 18-67 years (M = 29.83, SD = 11.80), our age related results
longer lasting dyadic interactions (Benenson et al., 1997). Girls also
concern the period of late adolescence to the beginning of old age. So
spend more time than boys in social conversation and self-disclosure in
far, there has been contradictory results as to how the quality of at-
friendships (Ladd, 1983; Moller et al., 1992; Rose, 2002). Such differ-
tachment changes with increases in age. For example, some studies
ences in interaction styles and strategies had been linked to gender
found decreases in attachment anxiety, but not in attachment avoidance
differences in reaction to stress and copying behaviors (Rose, &
(Klohnen & John, 1998; Diehl et al., 1998; Van Assche et al., 2013),
Rudolph, 2006), and from an evolutionary perspective it might be re-
whereas other studies found that avoidance increases with age
lated to the fact that women are more prone to stresses that arise from
(Birnbaum, 2007; Chopik et al., 2013; Mickelson et al., 1997). In case of
living in a large social group, and therefore need a more buffering social
RMs, the increase of authority ranking and market pricing with age can
network environment to protect them (Dunbar & Machin, 2014;
be explained by the reasoning that with increasing age the individual is
Dunbar, 2018). Equal contribution to relationships by parties may be a
allotted more authority roles including formal relationships (work-
strategy that supports this purpose; however, more research is needed
place) and family (grandchildren, in-laws), as well as more formal re-
to answer this question.
lationships may become part of the individual’s network such as col-
In summary, our findings give support to the idea that network
leagues and business partners. These questions need further
structure is differentiated based on the underlying cognitive-emotional
investigation.
constructs of attachment quality and RMs. Thus, our results suggest that
We also examined the support group itself in terms of attachment
ties within these two layers of the network qualitatively differ from

198
E. Berán et al.
Fig. 4. a, b,c,d Conflict in relationship, fear of abondonment, assuming bad intentions to alter, and trust in relationship according to group type and age.
each other in terms of the cognitive models people employ in relating to
others – in addition to the differences in emotional closeness and
meeting frequency (Hill & Dunbar, 2003; Dunbar, 2018). More speci-
fically, we found that the support group is characterized by secure at-
tachment, communal sharing and equality matching RMs – whereas the
sympathy group is characterized by more insecure attachment, and less
communal sharing and equality matching RMs. Since secure attach-
ment, communal sharing as well as equality matching require a great
amount of trust on the part of the ego in the alter’s future behavior, the
above mentioned differences may be related to the differentiated dis-
tribution of trust among relationship ties within the two layers, which
we found to be higher in the support group.
At the same time, since the examined layers are also differentiated
in terms of alter types, it is possible that we relate differently to
199
Social Networks 55 (2018) 189–201
different alter types, as this was evidenced in our examination of
members within the support group: kin and friends. These questions
need further investigation.
Limitations of the interpretation of our data stem from our sampling
method (i.e., convenience sampling). This may reduce the general-
izability of the results.
Another issue is the discrete hierarchical organization of the support
and sympathy groups (Zhou et al., 2005) shown by using fractal ana-
lytic methods. We are in full agreement that the claims of this paper
should be replicated. We have tried to validate this finding by using
hierarchical cluster analysis, which the size of our data set did not allow
us to perform. The discrete hierarchical organization of groups sur-
rounding the ego, however, should be examined in the future on larger
data sets using numeric taxometric methods.
E. Berán et al.
Fig. 5. a, b Similarity of world view and importance of the ego to alter according to group and age.
Acknowledgement
This research was supported by TÁMOP-4.2.2.C-11/1/KONV-2012-
0008.
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packages, formed of raw hides, called malas, each containing three arrobas, (96 lb.) two of which
constitute a horse-load, and are denominated by the Portuguese a carga.
At Villa Nova do Principe the cotton is sold at so much the carga of six arrobas, and varies in price
according to the changes of the Bahia market, say from eight milreas upwards the carga, to this must be
added the carriage to Cachoeira, which fluctuates according as horses and mules are plentiful, or
otherwise, from eight milreas to fifteen the carga. From Cachoeira, as has been already remarked, it is
conveyed in large boats to Bahia, at a freight of one hundred reas the carga; here it is put into bags, the
expense of which is trifling, for the hide will sell for almost as much as buys the material for the bag, and
the labour amounts only to one hundred and sixty reas[33] per bag, (not quite tenpence.)
Cotton is planted in the month of January or February, and gathered, say the first pluckings, about
September. The same plants last three years, the second year being frequently more productive than
the first; but in the third year the crop falls off, both in quantity and quality. After this the plants are
destroyed, and the grounds lies fallow.
Some hides and rum are exported; and the following statement will show the number of ships, and
the amount of produce they conveyed from hence, in the year ending on the 1st of October, 1818.
SUGAR. TOBACCO. COTTON. MOL
To what Number Cases. Boxes. Barrels. Arrobas. Rolls. ½ Arrobas. Bales. Arrobas. Bags. Arrobas. Hides. Pipes
Places the of Rolls.
Vessels vessels.
belong.
Lisbon 24 9,828 381 — 399,021 8,101 —— 107,153 843 18,657 1,054 6,324 46,037 25
Oporto 19 5,506 245 42 218,104 —— —— —— —— —— 262 1,572 6,498 —
Gibraltar 10 429 24 — 17,328 3,971 11,732 79,058 —— —— 140 840 9,846 —
Ilha Gracia 1 3 24 — 312 —— —— —— —— —— 6 30 —— —
Hamburgh 11 2,716 52 — 109,056 386 1,677 8,758 831 8,001 115 690 1,309 —
Liverpool 36 1,187 10 — 47,539 —— —— —— —— —— 30,430 182,580 1,154 —
London 5 689 38 — 27,864 —— —— —— 70 1,406 2,168 10,840 853 —
Falmouth 3 981 51 — 39,546 —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —
Portsmouth 1 395 25 — 15,975 —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —
Guernsey 1 236 4 — 9,472 —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —
Amsterdam 3 930 28 — 37,480 109 —— 1,526 50 1,050 —— —— —— —
Trieste 1 333 27 — 13,563 —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —
Jersey 1 399 4 — 15,980 —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —
Geneva 1 —— — — —— 49 1,623 2,932 —— —— —— —— —— —
Cowes 1 543 35 — 22,000 —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —
Stockholm 1 250 — — 10,000 —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —— —
New York 2 —— — — —— —— —— —— — —— —— —— 2,200 38
Baltimore 1 —— — — —— —— —— —— — —— —— —— 2,200 6
Philadelphia 2 2 — — 79 —— —— —— 24 504 —— —— 2,175 22
Bremen 1 21 — — 840 —— —— —— 120 2,460 53 318 40 11
Salem 8 —— — — —— —— —— —— — —— —— —— 9,950 84
Boston 4 —— — — —— —— —— —— — —— —— —— 1,263 71
Newport 1 —— — — —— —— —— —— — —— —— —— —— 8
Nantz 6 420 5 — 16,830 —— —— —— 30 603 541 2,710 3,102 —
Bourdeaux 4 245 7 18 11,012 —— —— —— — —— 1,370 8,220 —— —
Totals 148 25,113 960 60 1,012,001 12,616 15,032 199,427 1968 32,681 36,139 214,124 86,627 268

Bahia is considered by the English merchants a more agreeable place of residence than any of the
maritime towns of the Brazil, and a more social intercourse has existed amongst themselves than at
some of the other places. The city and residences in the vicinity are delightfully refreshed by the land
and sea breezes, and the climate is deemed very healthy. There is an English hospital here, as at the
other commercial towns of note, but there are generally few invalids.
Here, as in all parts of the Brazil, the females are much confined to the houses, and do not take free
and open exercise; their domestic habits are slovenly and indolent; many, in the Turkish style, sit on the
ground upon mats, while at work; they dress loosely; and to the general listlessness and prevailing
custom of indulging in a sesta, or nap after dinner, may be attributed the gross and unshapely
appearance of some of the Brazilian females. It would, however, be illiberal to include the whole in this
description, as there are many fine women, and if better acquainted with the graces and the refinements
of the fair sex, would be ornaments to any circle of society, having naturally much sprightliness and wit,
if properly directed, and freed from the shackles of jealousy with which they are surrounded.
This city, on the 10th of February, 1821, followed the example of Para, in declaring itself for the new
constitution of Portugal, and a resolution to that effect was publicly adopted in the camara, and signed
by Conde de Palma, the governor, who however declined holding that situation longer. This measure
was brought about principally by the military. Lieut.-Colonels Manuel Pedro de Freitas and Francisco de
Paula, were its most active promoters. It is said, that thirteen of the military, including a major, were
killed.

On Stone by C. Shoosmith from a Sketch by Jas. Henderson.

Printed by C. Hullmandel.
A BRAZILIAN SIESTA, OR AFTERNOON NAP.
 CHAP. XVI.
PROVINCE OF SEREGIPE D’EL REY.

Colonization—Reduction of the Indians—Extent—Mountains—Rivers

and Lakes—Mineralogy—Zoology—Phytology—Povoações.
The conquest and colonization of this province was commenced
in the government of Christovam de Barros, deputy-governor of
Bahia, in 1590, in consequence of orders which he received from
King Philip II. at the request of the inhabitants between Rio Real and
Itapicuru, who lived in a state of great inquietude, as well from the
Indians of the country as the French pirates, who frequented the
coast in search of Brazil wood. It was for a considerable period a
district of Bahia.
After a century had elapsed, it began to have ouvidors about the
year 1696, at which period its diminutive population, involved in
anarchy by a faction of some of the leading persons, disregarded
entirely the orders of the governor-general. The leaders were
prosecuted; but they obtained pardon of their Sovereign, upon
condition of subjecting the Tupinambazes of the country, who had
always been a considerable obstacle to the augmentation of the
colony. They succeeded in subjugating the Indians in part, and the
rest were reduced afterwards by the exertions of the Jesuitical
missionaries, and established in various aldeias. This province has
nearly ninety miles of coast from the Rio Real, which divides it from
that of Bahia, to the St. Francisco, which separates it from
Pernambuco, and nearly one hundred and forty miles in width,
terminating almost in an angle at the small river Xingo, about eight
miles below the great fall of Paulo Affonso.
It may be considered as divided into two parts—eastern and
western. The first, which is about forty miles in width, is commonly
distinguished by the appellation of Mattas, in consequence of its
extensive woods, which are, however, diminishing considerably from
the axe of the cultivator of the sugar cane and cotton tree; and the
western part, which is larger, has acquired the denomination of
Agrestes, from the sterility of its soil, commonly stony, with few
woods or fertile lands, and very deficient in water.
The Agrestes, if we except some portions, principally in the
proximity of the river St. Francisco, even where there are only small
aldeias, besides the town of Propiba, and the parish of St. Pedro, is
almost generally uncultivated, affording only scanty pasturage for
cattle, a great part of which perish from hunger and thirst when the
winter season passes over without much rain, as in the summer
season scarcely the smallest rivulet or perennial fount is met with. In
the eastern part or Mattas, where the rains are more frequent, the
soil is substantial and fertile, and the country presents a more
agreeable aspect of woods and partially cultivated lands.
Mountains.—The face of this province is generally flat, and,
although uneven, there is scarcely one small hill or mountain of any
considerable elevation; that of Itabayanna is the only remarkable one
between the Rio Real and the Vazabarris, and, although thirty miles
from the coast, is discovered at a great distance from the sea. Upon
its summit there is a lake that is never dry, and from this mountain,
which is affirmed to be rich in gold, various pure streams descend,
forming a handsome river.
In the western part is the Serra Negra, little higher than its
surrounding plains, and the Serra Tabanga, whose base is bathed by
the St. Francisco, with which it is prolonged.
Rivers and Lakes.—The Rio Real, which has about one
hundred and forty miles of course, is precipitated by various falls,
and only affords navigation to the first, thirty miles from the sea; from
this fall, downwards, to which the tide advances, the river is wide and
deep, but above it is small, and its tributary heads are frequently
dried up. It enters the sea twenty-five miles north-east of the
Itapicuru, and receives, in the vicinity of its embouchure, the rivers
Saguim, Guararema, and Piauhy, all by the left margin.
The Cotindiba is considerable only for the space of eighteen
miles, which the tide advances up, affords sufficient depth for
sumacas, is of great width, has its margins covered with mangroves,
and, in the vicinity of the sea, with white sand, adorned in parts with
very fine cocoa-nut trees. The greatest part of the sugar of this
province is exported by the dangerous embouchure of this river,
about eighteen miles to the north-east of Vazabarris, the shoals in
front of which occasion a furious agitation of the sea, and it is only
experienced navigators that can conduct sumacas with safety over
the bar.
The Seregipe, which gives the name to this province, is larger
and navigable for a greater space than the Cotindiba, with which it
runs almost parallel, until united with it by the left margin, eight miles
from the sea. In the interior of the country it is inconsiderable. Serigp
was its original name, and which it retained for many years after the
conquest of the country.
The Vazabarris, after a long course, discharges itself into the
famous bay of the same name, and affords navigation to smacks,
with the aid of the tide, for twenty miles. It is twenty-five miles north-
east of Rio Real, and Irapirang was its original name.
The Japaratuba is smaller than all the preceding rivers, and
empties itself by two mouths, twenty-five miles to the north-east of
the Cotindiba, and about the same distance to the south-west of the
St. Francisco. Though the tide runs up for many leagues, it only
affords navigation to canoes, in consequence of the little depth at its
entrance.
The Poxim, which rises near the Vazabarris, and runs into the
Cotindiba, near the sea, is navigable for canoes, which proceed
many leagues up with the tide. In the vicinity of the river St.
Francisco there are various lakes of great extent, upon the margins
of which numerous collections of birds assemble, such as the
colhereira, jaburu, sabacu, caroe, carauna, and the heron; upon the
centre of their waters are seen immense flocks of wild ducks, and
the mingua, a species of diver, which conceals the body below the
surface, showing only its head, and part of its extraordinary neck,
appearing like a snake.
Mineralogy.—Flint, potters’ clay, lime, and grindstone, a black
ferruginous stone, gold, marine salt, crystals, slate, and blue stone.
 Zoology.—There are all the species of domestic and wild
animals of the neighbouring provinces. The anta is rare; the ounce
has almost disappeared in the eastern part; deer are numerous, and
the red guariba monkey. In all parts there are great quantities of
bees of various kinds. There are many tatubollas, or armadillos,
upon the left margin of the St. Francisco, which have been observed
on being brought to the right bank frequently to die, or never to
multiply. In the river St. Francisco there is a sort of fishing
sparrowhawk, which dives in order to surprise the fish that descend
the river; but when the prize is of a weight superior to its strength, it
dies from suffocation, not being able to disengage itself. The wood-
turkey is here very common, as is the small pavao, or peacock.
Phytology.—Amongst other trees which afford timber for
building and joiners’ work, are the sucupira, iron wood, cedar,
sapucaya, jiquitiba, uruçuca, white and green batinga, similar to the
box-tree, conduru, gaiduno, quiri, itapicuru, pausangue, (blood
wood,) juciranna, vinhatica, ejitahy, gonçalo alves, putumuju,
masculine and feminine, arapiraca, bow wood, jinipapo, mastick,
biriba, of the bark of which tow is made for caulking. Amongst the
medicinal plants, there are ipecacuanha, alcasus, paroba, Jesuits’
bark, orange tree of the country, cassia, and sanguinaria. Orange
and other fruit trees are very scarce. Baunilha is a useful vegetable,
and grows here spontaneously, but its cultivation is not attended to.
The cocoa tree is unknown, although the soil is well adapted for it.
The coffee tree, which is such a lucrative branch of commerce to its
cultivators in the provinces of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, is yet seen
in few places, and there scantily.
Upon the margins of the river St. Francisco there is a tree, for
whose primitive name was substituted that of mancanzeira by the
Portuguese; the largest do not exceed the size of an orange tree,
and generally have many trunks together of little height, with the leaf
larger than those of a lemon tree, thick, elliptical, smooth, and of a
dark green. In the same tree there is fruit in the form of a lemon-peel
and a fig; but the greater part, and principally the largest, have the
figure of large tomates, the size of a wild apple, the rind soft and full
of pimples. The pulp is yellow, of an insipid taste, bitter, and smells
like a quince. The smallest have an oval stone; the largest have four
or more: the rind is hard, the kernel white and bitter. This fruit is not
eaten, but is excellent as preserves, made similar to marmalade.
This tree, which never surpasses a shrub in dry lands, is always
heavily laden; and the troquaze pigeon and the land tortoise become
fat upon the stones, after the fruit falls to the ground. The eastern
portion of this province is in part appropriated to mandioca, Indian
corn, feijao, cotton, and the sugar cane, for which there are near
three hundred engenhos; these are objects of exportation as well as
hides, flintstone, grindstone, cattle, horses, hogs, and the ticum
palm. In this part there are extensive tracts almost covered with a
small cane, with the leaves short, not exceeding the width of the
wheat leaf, and the knots armed with sharp points, so that no
quadruped enters or traverses the plantations. The oil of mamona is
universally used for lights, and might become an abundant branch of
exportation. The water-melon in few districts is large or good.
The towns of this province are,
Seregipe
St. Amaro
St. Luzia in the eastern part.
Itabaianna
Villa Nova

Propiha
Lagarto in the western part.
Thomar

Seregipe, or St. Christovam, capital of the province, the

residence of its governor and ouvidor, and having the title of a city, is
well situated upon an elevation near the river Paramopama, which is
an arm of the Vazabarris, eighteen miles from the sea, but does not
surpass a town in a state of mediocrity. It has a convent of St.
Franciscans, another of slippered Carmelites, and two Terceira
orders attached to them; a chapel of Our Lady of Rozario, for the
blacks; another of Amparo, for the mulattoes; a house of
misericordia, a good town house, and a large bridge. All the public
edifices are of stone. It has royal professors of the primitives and
Latin, and abundance of good water. The orange, mango, and
banana trees grow in its vicinity. Sumacas come up the river as far
as this place to take in sugar and some cotton. This city, which was
destroyed by the Dutch on the 25th of December, 1637, eight sugar
works then in the province sharing the same fate, had its
commencement upon the left margin and two miles above the
embouchure of the Cotindiba, where yet are the ruins of the church
called St. Christovam. It was removed from thence to a site between
the river Poxim and the Cotindiba, situated at an equal distance from
its first foundation and the place where it now stands.
St. Amaro, so called from the patron of its mother church, is a
small town, thinly populated, and without commerce, although well
situated and enjoying salubrious air, about one mile north of the
confluence of the rivers Seregipe and Cotindiba.
Five miles west of it, the aldeia of Moruim, in the extremity of an
arm of the Seregipe, is the depôt for a considerable quantity of sugar
cases, and has a small market on Saturdays.
St. Luzia, agreeably situated upon a height near the river
Guararema, (uniting itself eight miles lower with the Rio Real,) is
inconsiderable, has a church dedicated to the same saint, a chapel
of the Lady of Rozario, and exports the productions of the
surrounding country.
Ten miles distant from it, the povoaçao of Estancia, the most
populous and commercial of the whole province, without excepting
the capital, is situated in a plain upon the left margin of the river
Piauhy, abounding with excellent water, and has a chapel of Our
Lady of Guadalupe, another of Rozario, and a bridge over the river. It
is eighteen miles from the ocean, and the sumacas which enter by
the bar of the Rio Real anchor in front of it, and export various
articles of merchandise.
Itabaianna, situated in the vicinity of the serra of the same name,
having a church of St. Antonio, is a small town, and celebrated for
the race of small horses, bred in its extensive district, where cattle
are also reared, as well as various necessaries of life.
 Villa Nova de St. Antonio is agreeably situated, upon an
eminence refreshed with fine breezes, upon the St. Francisco, on the
opposite side, and two miles below Penedo. It has a good church, a
royal professorship of Latin, and in its vicinity quarries of grindstone.
In its district, which extends to the sea, cattle are bred and various
productions cultivated. Two parishes of Indians are within its
precincts, with the title of missions.
Propiha, originally called Urubu de Baixo, created a town in 1800,
is twenty-five miles above the preceding, upon the margin of the
same river, between two lakes of great disproportion; the smaller, of
a circular figure and sixty fathoms in diameter, may hereafter be in
the centre of the town, when it has experienced that augmentation of
which its advantageous situation renders it so susceptible. It is near
a valley opened by the diversifying hand of nature across a plain,
appearing more like a human operation, and by which the river at all
times extends an arm to the centre of a campinha of more than eight
miles in length, and of proportionate width, that becomes a large and
handsome lake, abounding with fish during the period of the floods. It
has a market every week, where its inhabitants provide themselves
with those necessaries which the sterility of its environs denies them.
The church, which was formerly a chapel of St. Antonio, besides
being the only place of public worship in the town, is very small and
poor. The western limits of its district are the same as those that
bound the province. The principal revenue of the camara is the
product of the public sale of fish, which enter periodically into the
temporary lake, the mouth of the valley being barricadoed with mats
of cane, to prevent their return to the river with the receding waters.
Within the district of this town is the parish of St. Pedro, situated
upon the margin of the St. Francisco, in a flat country, and which
becomes an island immediately the river begins to swell. It consists
of eighty families, almost generally Indians, for whom it was
exclusively founded. The colony is composed of two tribes. The
Romaris, who are the remains of the native aborigines, and the
Ceococes, from the vicinity of the serra of Pao d’ Assucar, (Sugar
Loaf,) fifteen miles distant from the province of Pernambuco. Even at
the present day, they are repugnant to the intermarriage of one with
the other. The women labour daily in the manufacture of
earthenware, which they dry or complete on Saturday evening, with
a large fire upon a piece of ground appropriated to the purpose. The
husbands hunt, fish, or plant some mandioca, according as their
caprice dictates, loitering about the greater part of their time, and
consuming in cachassa (spirit) the main portion of the product of the
labour of their industrious wives. In the vicinity of this parish were
found, a few years ago, bones of a vast size; the species of animal
which afforded them are extinct.
Lagarto, situated in a plain seventy miles to the west of the
capital, is a middling town, and famous for its quarry of flint stone. It
has a church dedicated to Our Lady of Piedade, (Piety.) In its
environs are raised cattle, cotton, mandioca, &c.; and in its district is
the famous Campo of Creoilo, eight miles in extent, affording
pasturage for numerous herds of cattle, and where are many emu-
ostriches and seriemas, with other birds.
Thomar, antecedently Geru, well situated in a flat district, and
enjoying a salubrious atmosphere, with good water, has a handsome
church dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Socorro, which belonged to
the Jesuits. It is five miles from the Rio Real; and the inhabitants,
principally Indians, cultivate cotton, legumes, and mandioca. They
always select a white man and an Indian for judges.
The distinguished and considerable arraial of Laranjeiras,
(Orange Groves,) most advantageously situated upon the left bank
of the river Cotindiba, and eight miles above its confluence with the
Seregipe, is not yet a parish, but in time it most probably will become
one of the principal towns of the province. Large sumacas visit it for
cargoes of sugar, cotton, hides, and legumes.
In the district of the town of St. Amaro, about eight miles to the
north of it, is the arraial of Nossa Senhora of Rozario, which derived
its name from a chapel of this name, agreeably situated near the
small river Ciriri, traversed by a road conducting to the port of
Moruim, and which is one of the most frequented in the country.
Besides the parochials of the towns mentioned, there are only
three parishes: Our Lady of Socorro, (Succour,) filial of the capital;
Our Lady of Campos do Rio Real, filial of the town of Lagarto; and
St. Gonçalo do Pe do Banco.
Upon the coast of this province there are no capes, islands, or
ports, excepting those within the rivers, the bars of which are
generally more or less dangerous, and afford passage only to
sumacas. The men are of all complexions. The Mesticos are the
most robust: of this class was Christovam de Mendonca, who, at the
end of the year 1806, when he had completed his one hundred and
twenty-eighth year, still exercising the business of a potter in the
aldeia of Aracaju, near the mouth of the river Cotindiba, gave a
relation of the revolt alluded to at the commencement of this chapter,
and died two years afterwards.
 CHAP. XVII.
PROVINCE OF PERNAMBUCO.

Voyage from Rio de Janeiro—First Donatories—Taken by the Dutch—

Restoration—Reversion to the Crown—Indians—Boundaries—
Mountains—Colony of Negroes—Mineralogy—Zoology—
Phytology—Rivers—Islands—Comarcas of Ollinda, Recife,
Alagoas—Povoações—Ouvidoria of the Certam of Pernambuco
—Rivers—Towns—Recife, or Pernambuco—Ollinda—Mattutos—
State of Society—Apathy—Environs—Revolution in 1817—
Military Government—Adoption of a New Constitution—Holidays
—Produce—Inspection—Sugar Engenho—Contribution Fund—
Population—Fribourg House.
On the 14th of November, I proceeded on board the brig
Columbine, Captain Thomson, lying in the bay of Rio de Janeiro, for
the purpose of visiting Pernambuco. A contrary wind prevented our
departure for five days. The party on board consisted of Colonel
Cotter, his lady and children, Captain Rezende, and Mons. Garay. By
way of rendering our detention less tedious, we made two or three
excursions to the eastern side of the bay. Our first visit was to the
small rocky island with the church of Boa Viagem situated on its
summit. We were denied access, from the orders of government,
that strangers were not to be admitted up the steep, in consequence
of a new fort then erecting upon it. We were therefore excluded from
the blessing usually granted at this church to persons upon the point
of undertaking a voyage. It was formerly the general custom, and is
at present not uncommon, for navigators and others previously to
embarking upon the ocean, to present offerings here, receiving in
return the prayers of the padre for a good voyage; and hence the
place is called Boa Viagem.
The boat proceeded round this island into the bay of Jurufuba, for
the purpose of obtaining an additional supply of water. We walked
round the back of the hills that edge this bay to the fountain, where
the water-casks were filled. Our road led by a delightful pathway
embowered by verdant trees intermixed with orange, banana, and
other fruits. Here and there a house of good external appearance
was seen, and cultivation appeared to be making some progress.
We purchased a rich supply of fruits from a widow whose shacara
was well stored, and her daughter gratuitously presented us with
large bouquets of flowers, whose aromatic scents were gratefully
diffused in our cabin for some days. In the common apartment of the
widow’s dwelling, secluded in a profusion of trees, was the figure of
our Saviour, enclosed in a case with opened doors, illumined by a
lighted taper.
Our next excursion was to a small opening between two
headlands, not far from the fort of St. Cruz, containing a solitary
white cottage, exhibiting much neatness at a distance: we soon,
however, discovered that, like most Brazilian residences, its external
appearance was not a proof of its internal comfort. There was only
one pathway, conducting from this little praya, up a steep rocky
mountain, on the summit of which we found a grey-headed old man,
seated, with his black boy, and enjoying the varied scenery around.
He said, that he frequently came from the city across the bay in a
canoe to this retired situation. We descended the opposite side of
the mountain, by a narrow and damp avenue, obscured by the
meeting of rocks high above our heads, on emerging from which we
found our progress stopped by two distinct precipices of granite; it
was necessary to cross the first in an oblique direction to arrive at
the second, an unlucky slip from which would have precipitated the
passenger one hundred feet into the sea. We observed a rope
hanging over its side, but could not imagine that it was the only
descent into the valley below, until we returned to the old man, who
informed us that there was no other way, and sent his boy to show
us the mode of descending: with both hands he laid hold of the rope,
which was imperfectly secured to a bush, and traversed the first
precipice, stepping backwards and allowing the rope gradually to
pass through his hands. Arrived at the second precipice, which was
to be descended perpendicularly, he took hold firmly of a stronger
rope, attached to a hanging tree, growing out of the interstices of the
two rocks; he proceeded backwards, moving one foot after the other,
horizontally placed against the side of the precipice, till he reached
the bottom. Colonel Cotter, Captain Thomson, and myself, took off
our shoes and proceeded in the same way, but the Colonel declined
accompanying us further than the first precipice, in consequence of a
wound received in his hand at the battle of Victoria. The valley we
found to be thinly planted with mandioca, which, with a few solitary
blacks and some miserable huts, was all that it presented to our
observation. We ascended the precipices by placing ourselves in the
same posture in which we had descended, and then returned with
the rest of the party, who were waiting for us, to the vessel, our
surprise being mutually excited at the extraordinary and intricate
mode of communication between the two prayinhas. Whilst we lay at
anchor, four Russian frigates entered the bay, in very fine order, and
took their stations not far from the British ships of war, the Superb
and Vengeur, then in the bay. The Russian frigates were proceeding
upon a voyage of discovery to the South Seas. On our departure
from the bay of Rio de Janeiro we had a favourable breeze, and in
five days were in the latitude of Bahia, having run upwards of ten
degrees of latitude, and seven of longitude. The wind now became
adverse; but in five days afterwards we passed Cabo Calor, Rio
Real, and Seregipe d’ el Rey, and on the following day were close in
with land, northward of the St. Francisco. The coast was flat and
covered with woods, a few huts being all that we could occasionally
discover.
 On Stone by C. Shoosmith from a Sketch by Jas. Henderson.
Printed by C. Hullmandel.
A JANGADA OR CATAMARAN NEAR PERNAMBUCO.
The currents we found setting in towards the coast much stronger
and to a more considerable degree, than any of the charts extant
account for. In the course of the 3d of December we indistinctly
perceived some catamarans near the beach, and at dusk discovered
Cape St. Augustine, affording us the hope of reaching Pernambuco
next morning. At day-break on the 4th, Cape St. Augustine,
Pernambuco, and Ollinda, were in view, with the land of the Cape
elevated and jutting out into the sea, but presenting nothing
remarkable. The coast near Pernambuco is flat, except some
elevations in the distant back ground, and Ollinda situated upon an
accumulation of rising eminences. On viewing it we could not but
acquiesce in the exclamation of the first donatory of this province, “O
que linda situacam para fundar huma villa.”[34] The whole country
from the sea appeared richly wooded and interspersed with the
cocoa-nut tree, and impressed the idea of fertility and cultivation.
The jangadas, or catamarans, now passed near us on all sides, with
their triangular sails, producing no inconsiderable surprise amongst
the whole party. They are constructed of eight, ten, and some of
twelve trunks of the buoyant jangada tree, rudely secured together
by wooden bolts passing horizontally through the whole, and with
cross-bars at the top, attaching the rafts more firmly together. The
trunks are not of uniform length, and, being almost hid amongst the
waves, would not be discovered at all without the sail and the two
men who navigate them. The waves pass through the apertures
between each trunk, and the men are constantly standing in water,
one of whom steers with a large paddle passed indiscriminately
between the ends of two of the rafts. Thus cotton and sugar from the
places upon the coast and from the rivers are conveyed to the
capital. Voyages of several hundred miles are performed by
jangadas. An English gentleman proceeded to sea in one of them
from Parahiba to Pernambuco, a small table was attached to the
rafts upon which he slept, and although the sea is generally washing
over them they are never known to upset. Our voyage had been an
extremely pleasant one, and each individual had expressed the
highest gratification not only at the mutual good humour that had
prevailed, but the very great attention of the captain. The party
frequently met on shore afterwards, and I received many civilities
from Colonel Cotter and his lady during my stay at Pernambuco. The
Colonel, before my departure, was appointed to the command of the
militia regiments formed by the population of the town. We will defer
speaking of the city of Pernambuco, or Recife, till we have concluded
the description of the province.
This province was presented as a captaincy, with less extent of
territory than it now contains, to Duarthe Coelho Pereyra, in reward
for having repulsed the French from the river St. Cruz, re-
establishing the factory which had been destroyed by them, and
rendering other important services to the Portuguese government.
The letter of donation was granted to him in 1534; and in the
following year he set sail from Portugal, accompanied by his wife
and some other families, who joined him for the purpose of
colonization.[35]
The small village of Hyguarassu, which had its origin about four
years before, was for some time the place of his residence, till
Ollinda was begun, which he made his capital soon after its
foundation. He was engaged in continued wars with the Cahetes,
who were the former inhabitants of the country. He died in the year
1554, leaving his wife, D. Brittes d’Albuquerque, in trust of the
government of the captaincy till the arrival of his hereditary son
Duarthe Coelho d’Albuquerque, who was pursuing his studies in
Portugal, and which he left in 1560 by orders of Queen Catharine, to
protect the colony from the danger with which it was threatened by
the revolt of some tribes of Indians whom his father had reduced to
obedience.
The new donatory took with him his brother Jorge d’Albuquerque
Coelho, and was accompanied by many friends and hired attendants
to his new settlement, and had the promise of others to follow him for
the purpose of augmenting the colony. He subjugated the whole
nation of the Cahetes and divided them into hordes; and after a
residence of many years returned to Europe, in order to accompany
D. Sebastiano in his voyage to Africa, leaving his brother
administrator of the captaincy, which progressively improved under
his management.
In failure of male issue he was succeeded by his brother Jorge
d’Albuquerque Coelho, father of Duarthe d’Albuquerque Coelho, who
in the second year after the Dutch had possession of the captaincy
arrived there with the Count Banholo, where he remained till the end
of 1638, when he returned to Portugal. During his residence he kept
a diary of the first eight years of the war.[36]
Duarthe d’Albuquerque Coelho had an only daughter, married to
the Count de Vimiozi D. Miguel de Portugal, but neither he nor his
heirs received any revenue from the captaincy, the dominion of
which was disputed; for King John IV. who had expended large sums
in its restoration, finding that the donatory had not forces sufficient to
prevent the invasion of the enemy, should they make a second
attempt, annexed the captaincy to the crown in the first year of its
restoration. This the donatory opposed, and his heirs sustained an
obstinate suit at law for many years, obtaining various sentences in
their favour, which were always abrogated, till finally they desisted
from the contest, surrendering whatever right they had to the
province; and, in 1717, by the intervention and consent of John V. a
convention was made between the Count de Vimiozi D. Francisco de
Portugal and the attorney-general, in which it was agreed that the
Count should receive in exchange for the captaincy the marquisate
of Vallenca for himself and his son, the countship to pass to his son
and grandson, and eighty thousand crusades, to be paid from the
revenues of the province in ten years at equal payments.
The new colonists, who were sent to it immediately after the
restoration of the province, gave it a rapid improvement. The Indians
living towards the interior, the principal of whom were Tupinambas,
and divided into numerous tribes, were by degrees surrendering the
country and allying themselves to the conquerors, or retiring to the
western districts. The latter were reduced about the years 1802 and
1803.
These Indians were divided into four nations, who have always
exhibited the most irreconcileable hatred to each other, and to this
day preserve their ancient animosity undiminished. They were
distinguished by the appellations of Pipipan, Choco, Uman, and
Vouvé. The language of each differed in idiom, but the general
resemblance between them sufficiently demonstrated that they
sprung from the same origin. They occupied a wild and uncultivated
tract of country, of thirty square leagues, between the rivers Moxoto
and Pajehu, near to the serra of Ararippa, a country sterile and
deficient in water. All are wandering tribes, ignorant of any kind of
agriculture, and support themselves on wild fruits, honey, and game;
a hog, a deer, or a bird are all dressed with the hair, feathers, and
intestines. The arms of the men are a bow and arrow, and they go
perfectly naked. The women cover themselves with a small and
elastic net, or with a deep fringe of thick thread much twisted, and
made with considerable ingenuity. They inter their dead in a bent
posture, having no instruments to make a grave sufficiently large to