A method and apparatus for managing a neighbor node having a similar characteristic to that of an active node, the method including: generating a neighbor list containing information about at least one neighbor node; selecting at least one parent node from among the at least one neighbor node; determining fitness parameters using a characteristic value of the active node, characteristic values of the at least one neighbor node included in the neighbor list of the active node, and characteristic values of at least one neighbor node included in a neighbor list of each parent node; and updating the neighbor list of the active node according to values of the determined fitness parameters.