Intermingling

Intermingling, or heterophily, from a sociological perspective includes the various forms of interactions between individuals that go against a particular society's cultural norms. These relationships stem from weak or absent ties, which are contrary to strong ties and constitute of networks between individuals who know little or nothing about one another. Examples of intermingling can include networking, work-place romance, or cross-cultural dating.

Intermingling is the opposite of homophily and xenophobia but individuals tend to be less heterophilic and more homophilic- associating and bonding with individuals similar to themselves. Homophily is more prevalent than heterophily because the strength of all ties between any two people depend on the amount of time spent together, of mutual confiding, and of emotional intensity. Homophilic relationships are perceived to be easier to build and maintain as individuals feel they have a great deal in common.

Pertaining to the diffusion of relationships, intermingling and heterophily are perceived to create more damage. Thus, since individuals practice homophily tend to be strongly connected and hold strong ties between their groups, when an individual is removed from the group information is still passed easily among those who remain. Contrarily, in sectors where there is intermingling and the group fabricates weak ties and bridges (individuals who connect two strangers) the removal of an individual from this group threatens the continuation of relationships between the others left in the group.

Personal networks and business networks are the social circles individuals find themselves within that are made up of strong and weak ties. The goal of these networks is to exchange information, act upon new opportunities, and have personal gain from the relationship. Intermingling has been known to enhance individuals' networking practices as heterophily is said to make people more successful through them being able to receive new information from weak ties. This conclusion comes from the observation of those who are perceived to be privileged and unprivileged (based on race, class, and gender) and how much in comparison to the other each group intermingles thus creating weak ties. The unprivileged groups (i.e. women, minorities, and lower classes) tend to be in small cliques with a very limited amount of weak ties meaning that their access to new opportunities and information is also limited. These groups have been known to only interact with each other causing information to be trapped within their own circle and no new information to enter into the circle. In Stanley Milgram's Small World Problem this breach in the spread of new information is described as group inbreeding.

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