Social networks of minoritized societal groups may be exposed to a unique structural force, namely that of social exclusion. Using a national sample of people in same-sex and different-sex relationships in the Netherlands (N = 1,329), this study examines sexual orientation as stratifying factor in social networks. Specifically, it is a comparison of their size and composition. Overall, the networks are similar but a few differences stand out. People in same-sex relationships have larger networks than people in different-sex relationships, which are made up of fewer ties with the family-of-origin and more friends. This lends support to the families-of-choice hypothesis and suggests that people employ resilience strategies, such as alternative community building, to counteract social exclusion from families-of-origin. The results further show that men in same-sex relationships have the fewest same-gender ties in their networks out of both men and women in any relationship type. Overall, the results show that sexual orientation is a dimension worthwhile studying as a stratifying factor of social networks both standing alone and at the intersection with gender.

中文翻译：

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社会排斥和弹性：检查同性和异性关系中的人的社会网络分层

少数社会群体的社会网络可能会受到一种独特的结构力量的影响，即社会排斥。本研究使用荷兰同性和异性关系的全国样本（N = 1,329），将性取向作为社交网络中的分层因素进行检验。具体来说，是对它们的大小和组成进行比较。总体而言，这些网络是相似的，但有一些区别很明显。同性关系中的人比异性关系中的人拥有更大的网络，这些网络由与原籍家庭的较少联系和更多朋友组成。这为选择家庭假设提供了支持，并表明人们采用复原力策略，例如替代社区建设，来抵消来自原籍家庭的社会排斥。结果进一步表明，在任何关系类型的男性和女性中，同性关系中的男性在其网络中的同性关系最少。总体而言，结果表明，性取向是一个值得研究的维度，作为独立和与性别交叉的社交网络的分层因素。