School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85282, USA.
J Biol Dyn. 2010 Sep;4(5):456-77. doi: 10.1080/17513758.2010.510212.
The problem of who is mixing with whom is of great theoretical importance in the context of heterosexual mixing. In this article, we publish for the first time, data from a study carried out in 1989 that had the goal of estimating who is mixing with whom, in heterosexually active college populations in the presence of co-factors like drinking. The gathering of these data and the challenges involved in modelling the interaction between and among heterosexually active populations of individuals are highlighted in this manuscript. The modelling is based on the assumptions that at least two processes are involved: individual affinities or preferences determine 'what we want' while mixing patterns describe 'what we get'. We revisit past results on the role of affinity/preference on observed mixing patterns in one- and two-sex mixing populations. Some new results for homosexually active populations are presented. The study of mixing is but the means to an end and consequently, we also look at the role of affinity on epidemics as filtered by observed mixing patterns. It would not be surprising to observe that highly distinct preference or mixing structures may actually lead to quite similar epidemic patterns.
谁与谁混合的问题在异性混合的背景下具有重要的理论意义。在本文中，我们首次公布了 1989 年进行的一项研究的数据，该研究旨在估计异性活跃的大学生群体中谁与谁混合，同时考虑到饮酒等因素。本文强调了收集这些数据的困难以及对异性活跃人群之间相互作用进行建模的挑战。该模型基于以下假设：至少有两个过程涉及：个人亲和力或偏好决定了“我们想要什么”，而混合模式描述了“我们得到了什么”。我们重新审视了过去关于亲和力/偏好对单性别和双性别混合人群中观察到的混合模式的作用的结果。还为同性恋活跃人群提供了一些新的结果。混合研究只是达到目的的一种手段，因此，我们还观察了亲和力在观察到的混合模式过滤下对传染病的作用。如果发现非常不同的偏好或混合结构实际上可能导致非常相似的流行模式，那也不会令人惊讶。
