Full paper (open access) 👉 doi.org/10.1016/j.so...
Happy to discuss!
Alejandro Ciordia
We have a new paper out in PNAS. Susanna’s thread outlines our findings. The big picture takeaway is that well-designed climate education (active, personally relevant, science-based) can complement fiscal and regulatory instruments by building public support for ambitious policy!
I am a footloose international traveler; you are an expat escapee; they are immigrant scum.
Sport-for-development (SFD) programs are widely used to foster social integration among migrants and asylum seekers, with the intuition that shared physical activity naturally builds social bonds. But does it, and does it do so equally for everyone?
📢 New article out in Social Networks (co-authored w/ @corneliusholler.de, @snannabell.bsky.social, @mirandalubbers.bsky.social, and Cristiano Vezzoni): "Unequal relational gains in a sport intervention for asylum seekers"
🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2026.05.003
A 🧵 with the main takeaways 👇
First finding: the program did expand participants' networks, but mainly at the level of weak ties. Acquaintanceship density grew from 0.51 to 0.72, and phone contacts from 0.16 to 0.31, both statistically significant. Close friendships, by contrast, barely moved.
This comes from a project with special place for me personally. During my first year of PhD, I got involved in a sport-for-development program organized by Aquila Basket Trento for recently arrived asylum seekers. I had the chance to meet wonderful people and collect network data for the first time.
Through TERGMs we see that the clearest skill effect is a sender (confidence) effect: more skilled players initiated more ties overall. A receiver (prestige) effect also appears for friendship. In short, who you are and how well you play shape what you get out of the intervention.
Second finding: relational gains were far from evenly distributed. Each line in this figure is a participant's trajectory in received ties. The spread is striking. Tie formation was shaped by sociodemographic similarity (shared language, religion, nationality) and by athletic skill.
Alejandro Ciordia
Alejandro Ciordia
Alejandro Ciordia
Alejandro Ciordia
Kieran Healy
Max Bradley
Alejandro Ciordia
Alejandro Ciordia
We tracked how participants' peer networks evolved between the start (T1) and end (T2) of the program, focusing on 3 types of relationships.
🚨I have a new paper out in PNAS with my co-authors,
@maxbradley.bsky.social @renschazottes.bsky.social
and @ninalopezuroz.bsky.social: "Educational policies can strengthen climate coalitions." A thread on what we found (and a great story about doing ambitious research without funding!) [1/9]
