Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks

Theory: Homophily Theory

Theorist(s): Miller McPherson, Lynn Smith-Lovin, James M. Cook
Keywords: homogeneous, social communication, information transfer
Biography:
Miller McPherson graduated from the University of Alabama in 1968 with a BA in
Education. He also earned a PhD. in 1973 in Sociology/Quantitative Methods at
Vanderbilt University/. He is currently a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Duke
University, since 2006.

His areas of interest are organizations, associations, social

networks, and quantitative methodology. He developed the General Ecological Theory of

Affiliation, and most of his research focuses on voluntary groups and the social networks
that draw people into and out of them. He is currently working on a publication with
Lynn Smith-Lovin and Jeff Smith titled Social Distance in America: Heterogeneity and
Homophily in Sex, Age, Education and Religion" ("Miller mcpherson, professor," 2011).
Lynn Smith-Lovin graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1978 with a PhD.
in Sociology/Social Psychology. She is currently a Professor of Sociology/Womens
Studies Program. She is interested in the basic question of how identities affect social
interaction.

Her most recent award in 2006 was the Cooley-Mead award for Lifetime

Achievements in Sociological Social Psychology, Section on Social Psychology from the

American Sociological Association in addition to many other awards throughout her

career. Her most recent publication in 2012 is with Steven Foy, Robert Freeland,
Andrew Miles, and Kimberly B. Rogers and is titled Emotion and affect in the social
psychology of inequality ("Lynn smith-lovin," 2010).
James M Cook graduated from the University of Arizona with a PhD. in Sociology in
2000. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Social Science at the University of Maine
since 2011. Prior to that he was the Assistant Professor of Sociology at Duke University
from 2000-2006. His areas of concentration are political sociology, and social networks.
His latest publication in 2005 is titled Filling Structural Holes: Social Networks in the
Introductory Course ("James m. cook ," 2010).
Description of Theory:
Birds of a feather flock together, this adage is often used to explain
homophily021 0. According to Aaron Retica (2006) sociologists coined the term
homophily, which means love of the same, to explain why individuals associate with
others similar to themselves. Sociologists Miller McPherson, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and
James Cook (2001), believe that similarity breeds connection. As a result, the homophily
principle is responsible for network ties of every kind, including marriage, friendship,
work, advices, support, information transfer, exchange, co membership, and other types
of relationships (McPherson, Smith-Lovin & Cook, 2001). Furthermore, McPherson,
Smith-Lovin, and Cook (2001) found that this causes peoples personal networks to
homogeneous in terms of sociodemeographic, behavioral, and intrapersonal
characteristics.

According to McPherson, Smith-Lovin, and Cook (2001), homophily is the

principle that a contact between similar people occurs at a higher rate than among
dissimilar people. Those in hemophilic relationships share common characteristics that
make their communication and the formation of a relationship easier. Traditionally
homophily has been studied in person-to-person types of social activities, until the new
age era of computer networks such as the internet and online social networks. Sociologist
Dhiraj Murthy (2012) wrote a book entitled Twitter: Social Communication in the Twitter
Age, in which he explores the topic of homophily in relation to Twitter. Murthy (2012)
found that while Twitter promotes the exchange of different ideas and perspectives across
different cultures, people still tend to follow tweets of people who hold similar thoughts
and values of themselves, over those of people dissimilar to them . The principle of
homophily gives new meaning to the adage birds of a feather flock together, it can
extend to every aspect of our lives.
Theory Measurement and Instrumentation:
Early studies of homophily concentrated on small social groups, in which the
researchers could easily observe ties between members; as a result, the first systematic
evidence of homophily in informal network ties came from school children, college
students, and small urban neighborhoods (Retica, 2006). According to McPherson,
Smith-Lovin, and Cook (2012), the 1970s and 1980s produced a change in the scale of
the evidence on homophily; now researchers were able to apply the technology of
modern sample surveys to study social networks for the first time. This lead to largerscale studies which allowed researchers to measure homophily simultaneously on
multiple characteristics.

Prepared by: Carissa Foster Riser and Tammy Bates

References:
McPherson, M., Smith-Lovin, L., & Cook, J. (2001). Birds of a feather: Homophily in
social networks, 27, 415-444.
Murthy, D. (2012). Twitter: Social communication in the twitter age. Polity Press.
Retica, A. (2006, 12 10). Homophily. The new york times, Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/magazine/10Section2a.t-4.html
Miller mcpherson, professor emeritus. (2011). Retrieved from
http://fds.duke.edu/db/aas/Sociology/faculty/mcpherson
Lynn smith-lovin. (2010, 01 12). Retrieved from http://womenstudies.duke.edu/people?
Gurl=/aas/WomensStudies&Uil=smithlov&subpage=profile
James m. cook . (2010). Retrieved from http://faculty.uma.edu/jcook/