Social Exclusion and Resilience: Examining Social Network Stratification among People in Same-Sex and Different-Sex Relationships

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.