Lower relational mobility forces friendships across dissimilar others.

Evidence

Additionally, in societies high in relational mobility, individuals are able to form groups around similarities and common interests, which facilitate coordinated action and collective goal pursuit. Consistent with this, my colleagues and I have data suggesting that the reason why friends in the United States are more similar with each other than those in Japan is because of higher relational mobility in the former society. Although the preference for similar to dissimilar other is common to both countries, the opportunities to find and make friends with similar others are fewer in Japan, a society low in relational mobility (Schug, Yuki, Horikawa, & Takemura, 2009). — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1646

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1646