Heterophily

Heterophily is the tendency for individuals to form social ties with others who differ from them on one or more attributes. It contrasts with homophily, the tendency to connect with similar others.

In social networks, heterophily occurs when people connect across differences in race, ethnicity, gender, age, education, occupation, or ideology. Heterophilous ties can bridge otherwise disconnected groups, facilitating information flow and exposure to diverse perspectives.

However, such ties may involve higher coordination costs, potential misunderstandings, or trust barriers, and they can be less stable than ties among similar others.

Measurement in network research uses assortativity coefficients; negative values indicate heterophily, while positive values indicate homophily.

Contexts include organizations, online platforms, and urban settings, where cross-cutting ties can improve problem solving and diffusion of innovations but may require deliberate boundary-spanning roles.

Benefits depend on trust, shared goals, and the level of difference; heterophily does not guarantee positive outcomes in every setting.

Origins and domains: The concept appears in sociology, organizational studies, and information science. It reflects institutional structures, cultural diversity, and intentional policies that promote cross-cutting interactions. In data science, researchers quantify heterophily via assortativity metrics and by analyzing attribute labels of connected nodes.