Group mixing drives inequality in face-to-face gatherings

Abstract: Uncovering how inequality emerges from human interaction is imperative for just societies. Here we show that the way social groups interact in face-to-face situations can enable the emergence of disparities in the visibility of social groups. These disparities translate into members of specific social groups having fewer social ties than the average (i.e., degree inequality). We characterize group degree inequality in sensor-based data sets and present a mechanism that explains these disparities as the result of group mixing and group-size imbalance. We investigate how group sizes affect this inequality, thereby uncovering the critical size and mixing conditions in which a critical minority group emerges. If a minority group is larger than this critical size, it can be a well-connected, cohesive group; if it is smaller, minority cohesion widens inequality. Finally, we expose group under-representation in degree rankings due to mixing dynamics and propose a way to reduce such biases

Location
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
Extent
Online-Ressource
Language
Englisch
Notes
Veröffentlichungsversion
begutachtet (peer reviewed)
In: Communications Physics ; 5 (2022) ; 1-9

Event
Veröffentlichung
(where)
Mannheim
(who)
SSOAR, GESIS – Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften e.V.
(when)
2022
Creator
Oliveira, Marcos
Karimi, Fariba
Zens, Maria
Schaible, Johann
Génois, Mathieu
Strohmaier, Markus

DOI
10.1038/s42005-022-00896-1
URN
urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023081614433626104664
Rights
Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
Last update
25.03.2025, 1:51 PM CET

Data provider

This object is provided by:
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.

Associated

  • Oliveira, Marcos
  • Karimi, Fariba
  • Zens, Maria
  • Schaible, Johann
  • Génois, Mathieu
  • Strohmaier, Markus
  • SSOAR, GESIS – Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften e.V.

Time of origin

  • 2022

Other Objects (12)