Social networks are more demographically diverse than in the past, but the tendency for the alike to associate remains a strong force in society

In recent decades, the U.S. has undergone significant social and demographic change, and has become much more racially and religiously heterogeneous. But have these changes been reflected in who people now associate with for friendship and other relationships? In new research, which measures changes in ‘homophily’, or the tendency for people who are similar to be more likely to know each other, Jeffrey A. Smith, Miller McPherson and Lynn Smith-Lovin find thatmore people now know someone with a different racial/religious background, and that these changes have occurred in line with demographic shifts. They also find that homophily is decreasing along gender lines as men and women occupy increasingly similar roles in society, and that there is less interaction between people in different age groups.