Beyond Individual-Level Theorizing in Social Norms Research: How Collective Norms and Media Access Affect Adolescents’ Use of Contraception
Outcomes: Sexual and Reproductive Health
View SourceKey Social Norms Take-aways The study emphasizes that interventions aiming to improve adolescent contraceptive use should not only target individuals but also consider the broader collective norms of their communities. Programs should assess both the strength of local norms and the level of media access when designing strategies. Media campaigns may be especially powerful in communities where restrictive or harmful norms dominate, helping to introduce new ideas and reduce the social pressure to conform to prevailing behaviors.
Objectives This study aimed to investigate how collective social norms at the community level and adolescents’ access to mass media influence contraceptive use among adolescents in Ethiopia and Tanzania, exploring the interaction between community norms and external media exposure.
Methods Researchers analyzed nationally representative Demographic and Health Survey data from 6,230 adolescents in Ethiopia and 5,138 adolescents in Tanzania, ages 15–24. They used statistical models to test how collective norms about contraception use (measured as the average contraceptive use in an adolescent’s community) and individual media use (radio, TV, newspapers, internet) predicted personal contraceptive use, controlling for demographic factors.
Results The study found that adolescents living in communities where contraceptive use was more common were themselves more likely to use contraception. This association between collective norms and individual behavior was stronger in areas with low media access. In Ethiopia, greater media exposure reduced the influence of community norms on individual behavior, while in Tanzania, the interaction between media and collective norms was not statistically significant.
Conclusions Community-level norms play an important role in shaping adolescents’ contraceptive use, but their influence can be weakened by exposure to alternative messages and information through mass media. This suggests that mass media can serve as an external influence that challenges prevailing social norms in more isolated communities.
Norms Addressed
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