The Evolution of Homophily

Biologists have devoted much attention to assortative mating or homogamy, the tendency for sexual species to mate with similar others. In contrast, there has been little theoretical work on the broader phenomenon of homophily, the tendency for individuals to interact with similar others. Yet this behaviour is also widely observed in nature. Here, we model how natural selection can give rise to homophily when individuals engage in social interaction in a population with multiple observable phenotypes. Payoffs to interactions depend on whether or not individuals have the same or different phenotypes, and each individual has a preference that determines how likely they are to interact with others of their own phenotype (homophily) or of opposite phenotypes (heterophily). The results show that homophily tends to evolve under a wide variety of conditions, helping to explain its ubiquity in nature.

[1]  J. Metz,et al.  Adaptive Dynamics: A Geometrical Study of the Consequences of Nearly Faithful Reproduction , 1995 .

[2]  U. Dieckmann,et al.  The Dynamical Theory of Coevolution : A Derivation from Stochastic Ecological Processes , 1996 .

[3]  M. Nowak,et al.  Mutation-selection equilibrium in games with mixed strategies. , 2009, Journal of theoretical biology.

[4]  S. Otto,et al.  Frequency-Dependent Selection and the Evolution of Assortative Mating , 2008, Genetics.

[5]  M. Nowak,et al.  The evolution of stochastic strategies in the Prisoner's Dilemma , 1990 .

[6]  Martin A. Nowak,et al.  Analytical Results for Individual and Group Selection of Any Intensity , 2008, Bulletin of mathematical biology.

[7]  James H Fowler,et al.  Correlated genotypes in friendship networks , 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[8]  H. Ohtsuki,et al.  Mutation-selection equilibrium in games with multiple strategies. , 2008, Journal of theoretical biology.

[9]  Damon Centola.  Damon Centola Behavior An Experimental Study of Homophily in the Adoption of Health , 2011 .

[10]  N. Christakis,et al.  The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network Over 32 Years , 2007, The New England journal of medicine.

[11]  Ángel Sánchez,et al.  Human behavior in Prisoner's Dilemma experiments suppresses network reciprocity , 2012, Scientific Reports.

[12]  G. Szabó,et al.  Defense mechanisms of empathetic players in the spatial ultimatum game. , 2012, Physical review letters.

[13]  U. Dieckmann,et al.  Sexual selection enables long-term coexistence despite ecological equivalence , 2012, Nature.

[14]  Robert K. Moyzis,et al.  Recent acceleration of human adaptive evolution , 2007, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[15]  N. Christakis,et al.  Social Networks and Cooperation in Hunter-Gatherers , 2011, Nature.

[16]  Ilya R. Fischhoff,et al.  Network metrics reveal differences in social organization between two fission–fusion species, Grevy’s zebra and onager , 2007, Oecologia.

[17]  Arun G. Chandrasekhar,et al.  The Diffusion of Microfinance , 2012, Science.

[18]  Damon Centola.  An Experimental Study of Homophily in the Adoption of Health Behavior , 2011, Science.

[19]  M. Jackson,et al.  An Economic Model of Friendship: Homophily, Minorities and Segregation , 2007 .

[20]  Martin A Nowak,et al.  Multiple strategies in structured populations , 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[21]  R. Axelrod.  The Dissemination of Culture , 1997 .

[22]  M. Schachner,et al.  Glycans and neural cell interactions , 2004, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

[23]  G. Edelman.  Cell adhesion and the molecular processes of morphogenesis. , 1985, Annual review of biochemistry.

[24]  Theodore C. Bergstrom,et al.  The Algebra of Assortative Encounters and the Evolution of Cooperation , 2001, IGTR.

[25]  Jukka-Pekka Onnela,et al.  Geographic Constraints on Social Network Groups , 2010, PloS one.

[26]  T. Clutton‐Brock,et al.  The social network structure of a wild meerkat population: 3. Position of individuals within networks , 2011, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

[27]  Claude S. Fischer,et al.  A Research Note on Friendship, Gender, and the Life Cycle , 1983 .

[28]  J. Cuesta,et al.  Time scales in evolutionary dynamics. , 2006, Physical review letters.

[29]  R. Boyd,et al.  Moral Sentiments and Material Interests: The Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life , 2006 .

[30]  Benjamin F. Jones,et al.  Supporting Online Material Materials and Methods Figs. S1 to S3 References the Increasing Dominance of Teams in Production of Knowledge , 2022 .

[31]  Jeremy Fairbank,et al.  Historical Perspective , 1984, Language in Society.

[32]  David G. Rand,et al.  Dynamic social networks promote cooperation in experiments with humans , 2011, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[33]  C. Hauert,et al.  Models of cooperation based on the Prisoner's Dilemma and the Snowdrift game , 2005 .

[34]  Henk Norde,et al.  Information Sharing Games , 2000 .

[35]  T. Dawber,et al.  The Framingham Study: The Epidemiology of Atherosclerotic Disease , 1980 .

[36]  Andrew M. Colman,et al.  Moral sentiments and material interests: The foundations of cooperation in economic life , 2006 .

[37]  D. Helbing,et al.  The outbreak of cooperation among success-driven individuals under noisy conditions , 2009, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[38]  Sara B. Soderstrom,et al.  Dynamics of Dyads in Social Networks: Assortative, Relational, and Proximity Mechanisms , 2010 .

[39]  Martin A. Nowak,et al.  Evolution of cooperation by phenotypic similarity , 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[40]  T. Hasegawa,et al.  Pattern, Distribution, and Function of Greeting Behavior Among Black-and-White Colobus , 2006, International Journal of Primatology.

[41]  U. Dieckmann,et al.  On the origin of species by sympatric speciation , 1999, Nature.

[42]  M. McPherson,et al.  Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks , 2001 .

[43]  Thomas C. Schelling,et al.  Dynamic models of segregation , 1971 .

[44]  J. Wakeley.  Coalescent Theory: An Introduction , 2008 .

[45]  M. Newman,et al.  Identifying the role that animals play in their social networks , 2004, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[46]  J. Moody.  The Structure of a Social Science Collaboration Network: Disciplinary Cohesion from 1963 to 1999 , 2004 .

[47]  Y. Kitamura,et al.  Heterophilic Binding of the Adhesion Molecules Poliovirus Receptor and Immunoglobulin Superfamily 4A in the Interaction Between Mouse Spermatogenic and Sertoli Cells1 , 2007, Biology of reproduction.

[48]  J. Lehmann,et al.  Social network analysis in the study of nonhuman primates: A historical perspective , 2011, American journal of primatology.

[49]  H. Tajfel.  Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations , 1982 .

[50]  Veröffentlichungsversion,et al.  The Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life , 2022 .

[51]  D. Fudenberg,et al.  Emergence of cooperation and evolutionary stability in finite populations , 2004, Nature.

[52]  M. Jackson,et al.  Social Capital and Social Quilts: Network Patterns of Favor Exchange , 2011 .