Assortativity in networks refers to a correlation pattern observed in real-world networks where nodes are preferentially connected to other nodes that are like (or unlike) them in some way. This is essentially a bias in connection preference.
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A related term is assortative mixing:
In the study of complex networks, assortative mixing, or assortativity, is a bias in favor of connections between network nodes with similar characteristics. In the specific case of social networks, assortative mixing is also known as homophily. The rarer disassortative mixing is a bias in favor of connections between dissimilar nodes.