Citation

Cohen J. Soc. Netw. 1979; 2(1): 65-74.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1979, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0378-8733(79)90011-X

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Whereas Hollingshead's 1942 study of Elmtown High found socio-economic status homophily to be a prime criterion in students' friendship and dating choices, the present study, a secondary analysis of James Coleman's 1958 Elmtown data, finds socio-economic status homophily unimportant for friendship and dating choices. This decline in status homophily occurred at a time when class distinctions were becoming blurred in Elmtown and the "rating-and-dating" system was losing in national importance. Status homophily is not a constant, but a variable: clear class distinctions facilitate status homophily, while shifting class and occupational systems make for class-heterogeneous social networks.