Definition of "assortative" [assortative]

• Characterized by assorting. (adjective)

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• "If the deviation of the chosen character is in the same direction (plus or minus) as in the chooser, the mating is called assortative; if in one direction independent of the characteristic of the chooser, it is called preferential."
• "What it does mean is that like tends to mate with like -- called assortative mating."
• "There was also in all countries a rise in the phenomenon known as "assortative mating", that is to say people with higher earnings having their spouses in the same earnings bracket - e.g. doctors marrying doctors rather than nurses."