Parents’ acceptance of human papilloma virus vaccination for their daughters in adet town, North Gojjam zone, Northwest Ethiopia: A mixed method study
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights that social norms—particularly subjective norms shaped by influential actors such as health professionals, religious leaders, peers, and family—play a critical role in shaping parents’ acceptance of HPV vaccination for their daughters in Ethiopia. Norms operate through perceived expectations and social pressure, where approval or endorsement from trusted community […]
Understanding How Violence Is Transmitted Across Generations: An In-Depth Multiple Case Study of Families in South Africa
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights that deeply embedded injunctive social norms—particularly those supporting authoritarian parenting, gender inequality, and the acceptability of violence as discipline—play a central role in sustaining intergenerational transmission of violence (ITV) in South Africa. Norms that justify harsh punishment, normalize aggression, and reinforce rigid expectations around obedience and gender roles […]
Support or Interference: Relational Influences on Mother’s Exclusive Breastfeeding Practices in Ghana
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms—particularly those related to infant feeding practices, gender roles, and caregiving responsibilities—play a central role in shaping exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) behaviors. Norms around infant thirst, beliefs that breastmilk alone is insufficient, and expectations that grandmothers and other relatives should guide infant feeding often lead to early introduction of water or […]
The Saleema initiative in Sudan to abandon female genital mutilation: Outcomes and dose response effects
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Saleema Initiative in Sudan demonstrates the power of branding and social marketing to shift entrenched social norms supporting female genital mutilation. By promoting a new social identity around uncut girls and fostering public discourse, Saleema reduced the perception that cutting is a common or socially accepted practice. The initiative’s success […]
Evaluation of the Responsible, Engaged, and Loving (REAL) Fathers Initiative on Physical Child Punishment and Intimate Partner Violence in Northern Uganda
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The REAL Fathers Initiative demonstrates that targeting social norms around masculinity, fatherhood, and discipline through mentoring can significantly reduce intimate partner violence and physical child punishment. The intervention worked by addressing norms that justify violence in parenting and relationships, encouraging reflection on gender roles and expanding the perceived responsibilities of fathers. […]
HIV/STI Risk-Reduction Intervention Efficacy with South African Adolescents Over 54 Months
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study provides compelling evidence that early, theory-based HIV/STI risk-reduction interventions can foster lasting shifts in sexual behaviors and the psychosocial drivers of behavior among South African adolescents. While not explicitly framed around social norms, the intervention indirectly influenced normative beliefs—particularly perceptions of parental approval and sexual negotiation self-efficacy—highlighting how targeting […]
Lessons learned from a mixed-method pilot of a norms-shifting social media intervention to reduce teacher-perpetrated school-related gender-based violence in Uganda
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study underscores the challenges and potential of using online platforms to shift deeply embedded social norms around school-related gender-based violence among teachers in Uganda. The intervention found that directly confronting harmful norms—such as those supporting corporal punishment or victim-blaming in sexual harassment cases—often reinforced these norms. Instead, emphasizing positive role […]
Measuring impact of storyline engagement on health knowledge, attitudes, and norms: a digital evaluation of an online health-focused serial drama in West Africa
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study illustrates how digital entertainment-education content like C’est La Vie! (CLV) can influence health-related social norms in West Africa. Specifically, the show helped shift norms regarding female circumcision, emergency contraception, and sexual assault, with higher engagement levels leading to more pro-health attitudes. Importantly, different storylines had varying levels of impact, […]
People Will Talk About Her If She Is Not Circumcised: Exploring the Patterning, Drivers, and Gender Norms Around Female Genital Mutilation in Ethiopia’s Somali Region
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights that female genital mutilation (FGM) in Ethiopia’s Somali region is upheld by intersecting and context-specific social norms tied to religion, culture, femininity, and marriageability. The study applies social norms theory, distinguishing between empirical and normative expectations, and explicitly identifies FGM—especially infibulation—as a deeply entrenched norm. Girls and women […]
Tracing change in female genital mutilation/cutting: Shifting norms and practices among communities in Narok and Kisii counties, Kenya
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Shifting social norms—particularly around marriageability, sexual morality, and ethnic identity—are central to understanding both persistence and change in female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in Kenya’s Narok and Kisii counties. While health risk messaging has increased public awareness, it has not substantially changed norms rooted in tradition, identity, and fear of social sanctions. […]