https://phys.org/news/2025-11-disadvantage-social-isolation.html

Samuel Martin-Gutierrez, Intersectional inequalities in social ties, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adu9025. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adu9025

Notable excerpts:

Social networks don't form at random. Who we are—our gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic background—influences whom we connect with. We tend to form relationships with those who are similar to us, a phenomenon known as homophily.

Marginalized groups, on the other hand, are pushed to the periphery of the social network. They not only have fewer connections to its central parts but also tend to be connected to others who are themselves less well-connected, making it harder to access opportunities, such as jobs or educational pathways.

"When someone falls into more than one marginalized category, the effects don't simply add up—they can intensify in nonlinear and sometimes unexpected ways," says Martin-Gutierrez.

Notes:

• This study is unique in that it examines multiple identity factors and how they interact to shape social networks instead of looking at just one identity trait at a time.
• The linked interactive shows some examples where, as a result of homophily, there can be a minority in a majority group.
• In one example, of how these traits can amplify each other, the white cat was the most popular in the social network while the black cat was the least popular.
• This study was done on a sample of 40,000 high school students from the years 1994 and 1995.
• The researchers who did the study said that this new method of considering all of the identity traits and how they can multiply each other can be used to build better designed schools, social platforms, and policy programs.