Division of Public Administration, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 May 24;108(21):8605-10. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1014486108. Epub 2011 May 5.
In many social networks, there is a high correlation between the similarity of actors and the existence of relationships between them. This paper introduces a model of network evolution where actors are assumed to have a small aversion from being connected to others who are dissimilar to themselves, and yet no actor strictly prefers a segregated network. This model is motivated by Schelling's [Schelling TC (1969) Models of segregation. Am Econ Rev 59:488-493] classic model of residential segregation, and we show that Schelling's results also apply to the structure of networks; namely, segregated networks always emerge regardless of the level of aversion. In addition, we prove analytically that attribute similarity among connected network actors always reaches a stationary distribution, and this distribution is independent of network topology and the level of aversion bias. This research provides a basis for more complex models of social interaction that are driven in part by the underlying attributes of network actors and helps advance our understanding of why dysfunctional social network structures may emerge.
在许多社交网络中，参与者之间的相似性和他们之间关系的存在高度相关。本文引入了一种网络演化模型，其中假设参与者对于与自己不同的其他人建立连接具有较小的抵触，但没有参与者严格偏好隔离网络。该模型的动机来自 Schelling 的经典隔离模型，我们表明 Schelling 的结果也适用于网络的结构；即，无论抵触程度如何，隔离网络总是会出现。此外，我们还从理论上证明了连接网络参与者之间的属性相似性总是达到一个稳定分布，并且该分布与网络拓扑和抵触偏见水平无关。这项研究为部分受网络参与者潜在属性驱动的更复杂的社交互动模型提供了基础，并有助于我们理解为什么功能失调的社交网络结构可能会出现。
