Patterns of Hornophily in Chile

This article characterizes the levels of homophily in Chile, that is, the tendency for social relationships to connect people who are socially similar. The study of this social propensity helps understand the bases of cohesion and conflict in current society. On the one hand, homophily can promote social integration of people into social groups; but on the other, it can favor dosed relations, and with it the reproduction of a rigid and fragmented social structure. Our analysis is based on log linear models applied to personal network data (ego-centered) captured in a national survey. The results show, while controlling for demographic availability, that social relations between Chileans are strongly structured by age, religion, and to a lesser degree, by political position and educational level. We also find large levels of intergroup variation within each of these social categories. In the case of political position and religion, the frequency of intra-group social relations is much lower among majority groups than among minority groups. In sum, our estimates suggest that a group closure logic is a dominant feature of Chilean society, but subject to variations depending on the social category considered.