Lijun Song
Associate Professor of Sociology
Affiliated Faculty, Department of Medicine, Health and Society, and Department of Asian Studies
Lijun Song is an Associate Professor of Sociology, Medicine, Health, and Society, and Asian Studies, and directs the SNAIL (Social Networks and Inequalities Lab). Her research investigates how societies produce and reproduce inequalities. Her core research interests include social networks, health, and social stratification (gender/sexuality, race/ethnicity, and class). Currently, she is advancing her new social cost theory to explore the detrimental consequences of social networks. She also leads an NIH R56-funded project ($1.3 million) to design the first-ever national study of older never-married adults.
Her scholarship has appeared in such journals as Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Forces, Social Networks, Social Psychology Quarterly, Social Science and Medicine, Society and Mental Health, and Work and Occupations. Her work has garnered support from institutions such as the National Institutes of Health, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange. She has secured over $15 million in research funding, with $1.5 million as a Principal Investigator and $14 million as a Co-Investigator. She has received two publication awards from the American Sociological Association (ASA): one from the Section on Asia/Asian America and another from the ASA Section on Sociology of Mental Health. She has been elected to chair two ASA Sections: Medical Sociology and Sociology of Mental Health. For more information, please refer to her home page, Google Scholar page, and ResearchGate page.
Selected Publications
(*Student or Postdoctoral Co-Author)
Song, Lijun, Philip J. Pettis*, Yvonne Chen*, and Marva V. Goodson-Miller*. 2021. “Social Cost and Health: The Downside of Social Relationships and Social Networks.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 62(3): 371-87. (Special Issue: Findings, Challenges, and Future Directions in Medical Sociology).
Song, Lijun. 2020. “Social Capital, Social Cost, and Relational Culture in Three Societies.” Social Psychology Quarterly 83(4): 443-62. **American Sociological Association Best Publication Award, Sociology of Mental Health Section.
Song, Lijun and Philip J. Pettis*. 2020. “Does Whom You Know in the Status Hierarchy Prevent or Trigger Health Limitation? Institutional Embeddedness of Social Capital and Social Cost Theories in Three Societies.” Social Science & Medicine 257.
Ronald S. Burt, Yanjie Bian, Lijun Song, and Nan Lin (eds.). 2019. Social Capital, Social Support and Stratification: An Analysis of the Sociology of Nan Lin. London: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Song, Lijun, Philip J. Pettis*, and Bhumika Piya*. 2017. "Does Your Body Know Who You Know? Multiple Roles of Network Members’ Socioeconomic Status for Body Weight Ratings. " Sociological Perspectives 66(6): 997-1018. Editor’s Pick.
Song, Lijun. 2015. "Does Knowing People in Authority Protect or Hurt? Authoritative Contacts and Depression in Urban China." American Behavioral Scientist 59(9): 1173-1188.
Song, Lijun. 2015. "Does Knowing People in the Positional Hierarchy Protect or Hurt? Social Capital, Comparative Reference Group, and Depression in Two Societies." Social Science & Medicine 136-137: 117-127.
Song, Lijun. 2014. "Is Unsolicited Support Protective or Destructive in Collectivistic Culture? Receipt of Unsolicited Job Leads in Urban China." Society and Mental Health 4(3): 235-54.
Song, Lijun and Wenhong Chen. 2014. "Does Receiving Unsolicited Support Help or Hurt? Receipt of Unsolicited Job Leads and Depression." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 55(2): 144-60.
Song, Lijun and Tian-Yun Chang*. 2012. "Do Resources of Network Members Help in Help Seeking? Social Capital and Health Information Search." Social Networks 34(4): 658-69.
Song, Lijun. 2012. "Raising Network Resources While Raising Children? Access to Social Capital by Parenthood Status, Gender, and Marital Status." Social Networks 34(2): 241-52.
Song, Lijun. 2011. "Social Capital and Psychological Distress." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 52(4): 478-92.
Song, Lijun. 2009. "The Effect of the Cultural Revolution on Educational Homogamy in Urban China." Social Forces 88(1): 257-70. *American Sociological Association Best Graduate Student Paper Award, Asia and Asian America Section.
Song, Lijun and Nan Lin. 2009. "Social Capital and Health Inequality: Evidence from Taiwan." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 50(2): 149-63.