Homophily and acrophily as drivers of political segregation

Goldenberg, Amit; Abruzzo, Joseph M; Huang, Zi; Schöne, Jonas; Bailey, David H.; Willer, Robb; Halperin, Eran; Gross, James J.

doi:10.1038/s41562-022-01474-9

Cited by 18 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Thus, although the REM provides evidence of same-party preferences at the micro-level, the effect of these preferences is too weak to produce increases in political segregation at the macro-level. This result departs from prior political polarization research that interprets political segregation as evidence of political homophily, but it aligns with research on personal networks that finds political homophily has a weaker effect on political segregation in personal social relationships than do alternative selection mechanisms (Goldenberg et al 2022).…”

Section: Empirical Example: Political Homophily and Political Segrega...contrasting

confidence: 87%

“…For example, if we are interested in the effect of preferences for politically similar alters (homophily) as opposed to politically extreme alters (acrophily) on political segregation in social networks (Goldenberg et al 2022), we could estimate the MEMS for homophily and acrophily separately, treating political segregation as the outcome variable. A larger MEMS for acrophily compared with homophily would indicate that preferences for politically extreme alters contribute to a larger portion of political segregation than do preferences for politically similar alters.…”

Section: Defining the Micro Effect On Macro Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This finding challenges the theoretical expectation that network recruitment increases labor market segregation because of homophily in employee personal networks. Goldenberg et al (2022) found that political segregation in social networks (“echo chambers”) arises from tendencies to affiliate with other individuals who hold more extreme political views (acrophily), rather than views that closely match one’s own views (homophily).…”

Section: Micro-macro Analysis In Network Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The MEMS represents the total contribution of each network selection mechanism to a macro outcome, so the difference in the MEMS for two micro processes represents the difference in the total contributions of each selection mechanism to a focal network structure (Indlekofer and Brandes 2013). For example, if we are interested in the effect of preferences for politically similar alters (homophily) as opposed to politically extreme alters (acrophily) on political segregation in social networks (Goldenberg et al 2022), we could estimate the MEMS for homophily and acrophily separately, treating political segregation as the outcome variable. A larger MEMS for acrophily compared with homophily would indicate that preferences for politically extreme alters contribute to a larger portion of political segregation than do preferences for politically similar alters.…”

Section: The Micro Effect On Macro Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because specific network structures are implicated in a broad range of theory, recent studies have dedicated substantial empirical attention to exploring the micro foundations of specific network structures (Arvidsson, Collet, and Hedstrom 2021; Block 2018; Goldenberg et al 2022; Huang and Butts 2023; McMillan, Kreager, and Veenstra 2022; Melamed et al 2020; Schaefer et al 2023). Bearman, Moody, and Stovel (2004) provide a classic example in adolescent romantic networks.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Micro Effects on Macro Structure in Social Networks

Duxbury

2023

Sociological Methodology

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How do individuals’ network selection decisions create unique network structures? Despite broad sociological interest in the micro-level social interactions that create macro-level network structure, few methods are available to statistically evaluate micro-macro relationships in social networks. This study introduces a general methodological framework for testing the effect of (micro) network selection processes, such as homophily, reciprocity, or preferential attachment, on unique (macro) network structures, such as segregation, clustering, or brokerage. The approach uses estimates from a statistical network model to decompose the contributions of each parameter to a node, subgraph, or global network statistic specified by the researcher. A flexible parametric algorithm is introduced to estimate variances, confidence intervals, and p values. Prior micro-macro network methods can be regarded as special cases of the general framework. Extensions to hypothetical network interventions, joint parameter tests, and longitudinal and multilevel network data are discussed. An example is provided analyzing the micro foundations of political segregation in a crime policy collaboration network.

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Section: Empirical Example: Political Homophily and Political Segrega...contrasting

confidence: 87%

Section: Defining the Micro Effect On Macro Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Micro-macro Analysis In Network Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Micro Effect On Macro Structurementioning

confidence: 99%