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Homophily-Based Social Group Formation in a Spin Glass Self-Assembly Framework

Jan Korbel, Simon D. Lindner, Tuan Minh Pham, Rudolf Hanel, and Stefan Thurner
Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 057401 – Published 30 January 2023
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Abstract

Homophily, the tendency of humans to attract each other when sharing similar features, traits, or opinions, has been identified as one of the main driving forces behind the formation of structured societies. Here we ask to what extent homophily can explain the formation of social groups, particularly their size distribution. We propose a spin-glass-inspired framework of self-assembly, where opinions are represented as multidimensional spins that dynamically self-assemble into groups; individuals within a group tend to share similar opinions (intragroup homophily), and opinions between individuals belonging to different groups tend to be different (intergroup heterophily). We compute the associated nontrivial phase diagram by solving a self-consistency equation for “magnetization” (combined average opinion). Below a critical temperature, there exist two stable phases: one ordered with nonzero magnetization and large clusters, the other disordered with zero magnetization and no clusters. The system exhibits a first-order transition to the disordered phase. We analytically derive the group-size distribution that successfully matches empirical group-size distributions from online communities.

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  • Received 15 July 2022
  • Revised 18 October 2022
  • Accepted 30 November 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.057401

© 2023 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Statistical Physics & ThermodynamicsInterdisciplinary PhysicsNetworks

Authors & Affiliations

Jan Korbel1,2, Simon D. Lindner1,2, Tuan Minh Pham1,2,3, Rudolf Hanel1,2, and Stefan Thurner1,2,4,*

  • 1Section for the Science of Complex Systems, CeMSIIS, Medical University of Vienna, Spitalgasse 23, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
  • 2Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Josefstädterstrasse 39, A-1080 Vienna, Austria
  • 3Niels Bohr Institute, Blegdamsvej 17, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 4Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, USA

  • *stefan.thurner@meduniwien.ac.at

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Issue

Vol. 130, Iss. 5 — 3 February 2023

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