The “unfriending” problem: The consequences of homophily in friendship retention for causal estimates of social influence

Noel, Hans; Nyhan, Brendan

doi:10.1016/j.socnet.2011.05.003

Cited by 127 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(60 reference statements)

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“…Moreover, by introducing lagged obesity variables, it only partly takes into account the problem of selection that may occur as obese individuals may have a higher probability to become friends (for details see pages 217-218 in Shalizi and Thomas, 2011). Finally, by focusing on dyads over time, it introduces an upward bias resulting from the unfriending problem as defined by Noel and Nyhan (2011). 9 The basic idea behind this argument is that people who are alike (homophilious) are more likely to maintain social ties.…”

Section: Previous Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Peer effects, fast food consumption and adolescent weight gain

Fortin

Yazbeck

2015

Journal of Health Economics

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This paper aims at opening the black box of peer effects in adolescent weight gain. Using Add Health data on secondary schools in the U.S., we investigate whether these effects partly flow through the eating habits channel. Adolescents are assumed to interact through a friendship social network. We first propose a social interaction model of fast food consumption. Our approach allows to control for correlated effects at the network level and to solve the simultaneity (reflection) problem. We exploit results by Bramoullé, Djebbari and Fortin (2009) which show that if there are two agents who are separated by a link of distance 3 within a network (i.e., two adolescents who are not friends but are linked by two friends), peer effects are identified. The model is estimated using maximum likelihood and generalized 2SLS strategies. We also estimate a panel dynamic weight gain production function relating an adolescent's Body Mass Index (BMI) to his current fast food consumption and his lagged BMI level. Results show that there are positive significant peer effects in fast food consumption among adolescents belonging to a same friendship school network. The estimated social multiplier is 1.59. Our results also suggest that, at the network level, an extra day of weekly fast food restaurant visits increases BMI by 2.4%, when peer effects are taken into account.

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Section: Previous Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Peer effects, fast food consumption and adolescent weight gain

Fortin

Yazbeck

2015

Journal of Health Economics

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“…Further, being part of a social group where other members recently gained weight has been related to an individual's adoption of obesity-related peer behaviors (Eisenberg and Quinn 2006) and likelihood of obesity (Christakis and Fowler 2007). However, much controversy remains regarding the causal nature of these associations Sainsbury 2008;Lyons 2011;Noel and Nyhan 2011;Shalizi and Thomas 2011).…”

Section: Social Factors Which Influence Nutrition Choicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neighborhood effects on food consumption

Leonard¹,

McKillop²,

Carson³

et al. 2014

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics

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Food consumption behavior is likely a result of environmental stimuli, access, and personal preferences, making policy aimed at increasing the nutritional content of food consumption challenging. We examine the dual role of the social and physical neighborhood environment as they relate to the eating behaviors of residents of a low-income minority urban neighborhood.We find that both proximity to different types of food sources (a characteristic of the physical neighborhood environment) and dietary intake of neighbors (a characteristic of the neighborhood's social environment) are related to dietary intake. The relationships are most robust for fruits and vegetables consumption. Proximity to fast food sources is related to less fruits and vegetables consumption while the opposite is found for individuals residing closer to fresh food sources. Additionally, individuals whose neighbors report increased fruits and vegetables intake also report higher fruits and vegetables consumption, while controlling for proximity to food sources. Instrumental variable and quasi-experimental robustness checks suggest that correlation in neighbors' fruits and vegetables consumption is likely due to social interactions among neighboring residents. The results elucidate important inter-relationships between access and social norms that influence dietary behavior. 2JEL Codes: H51, H31, I14, I15

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“…A particular challenge to such research is to take into account the demographic composition of the social networks. Adolescents' friends are not chosen at random: an adolescent is more likely to befriend other adolescents of the same gender, socioeconomic status, and, relevant to the present study, migration or ethnicity, a pattern known as "homophily" (McPherson et al, 2001;Noel & Nyhan, 2011;Rivera et al, 2010). Homophily has been defined as "a tendency for friendships to form between those who are alike in some designated respect" (Rivera et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%