The formation of social network assortativity: a cultural trait-matching mechanism (Q2225585)

Summary: The preferential attachment mechanism that forms scale-free network cannot display assortativity, i.e., the degree of one node is positively correlated with that of their neighbors in the network. Given the attributes of network nodes, a cultural trait-matching mechanism is further introduced in this paper. Both theoretical analysis and simulation results indicate that the higher selection probability of such mechanism, the more obvious the assortativity is shown in networks. Further, the degree of nodes presents a positive logarithm correlation with that of adjacent ones. Finally, this study discusses the theoretical and practical significances of the introduction of such a cultural trait-matching mechanism.