C’est la Vie!: Mixed Impacts of an Edutainment Television Series in West Africa
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study finds that edutainment programming like C’est La Vie! (CLV) can shift social norms around contraception and gender equity, particularly when exposure is sustained and integrated across media. It highlights that norms are more likely to shift when multiple layers of influence—media messages, interpersonal discussions, and community attitudes—align. Social norms […]
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, […]
The Influence of Organised Diffusion on Social Norms Change: Addressing Intimate Partner Violence in Nepal
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study provides compelling evidence that organized diffusion can effectively promote social norms change around intimate partner violence in contexts where such violence is widely accepted. The intervention successfully disrupted harmful norms by facilitating the sharing of new attitudes and behaviors across social networks. Changes in gender roles, spousal communication, and […]
Understanding family planning outcomes in northwestern Nigeria: analysis and modeling of social and behavior change factors
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms supporting high fertility, male-dominated decision-making, and contraceptive myths strongly shape family planning behaviors in this setting. Interventions must go beyond individual-level change to also address relational dynamics, especially fostering joint decision-making and male engagement, and create enabling environments that support women’s autonomy and challenge entrenched gender roles. Objectives: This […]
Breakthrough Generation Initiative Mixed-Methods Final Evaluation Report July
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Breakthrough Generation Initiative demonstrated that systemic shifts in social norms—especially around gender roles, harmful practices, and community collaboration—can emerge from community-led, values-based education. The participatory approach of Tostan’s Community Empowerment Program (CEP) created safe spaces for challenging entrenched beliefs and introduced a process of organized diffusion, enabling widespread norm change […]
Can Media Campaigns Change Attitudes and Spark Actions to Reduce Early Child Marriage? Impact Evaluation of Breakthrough’s Early Marriage Campaign in Jharkhand and Bihar States of India. Grantee Final Report
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study reveals that norms supporting early marriage and rigid gender roles can shift through media-driven and community-based engagement. Breakthrough’s mass media campaigns challenged the normalization of child marriage, while training and community mobilization helped reinforce critical reflection on gender norms. The intervention encouraged more equitable attitudes among adolescents and adults, […]
Using social and behavior change communication to increase HIV testing and condom use: The Malawi BRIDGE Project
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The BRIDGE II program addressed harmful norms related to gender, sexual behavior, and HIV stigma through mass media and community engagement. By challenging prevailing beliefs and encouraging community discussion, the intervention helped shift social expectations around HIV testing and condom use. These shifts supported individuals in adopting healthier behaviors within a […]
Gender-transformative Bandebereho couples’ intervention to promote male engagement in reproductive and maternal health and violence prevention in Rwanda: Findings from a randomized controlled trial
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Bandebereho intervention demonstrates that deeply entrenched gender norms—such as men’s dominance in decision-making, use of violence against women and children, and unequal household labor—can shift through a structured, gender-transformative approach. By promoting critical reflection, joint decision-making, and shared caregiving roles, the intervention disrupted patriarchal norms in a sustainable way. Male […]
Qualitative research on Breakthrough ACTION’s Advocacy Core Group Model for integrated social behavior change programming in Nigeria
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Adolescent childbearing in northern Nigeria is shaped by social norms around early marriage, gender roles, and family honor. These norms position marriage and motherhood as expected milestones for girls, often reinforced by community and family members. Premarital pregnancy is highly stigmatized, especially for girls, while boys face fewer consequences. Changing these […]
Improving Menstrual Health Literacy Through Life-Skills Programming in Rural Ethiopia
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates the effectiveness of gender-transformative life-skills programming in the Act With Her–Ethiopia program in shifting stigmatizing social norms around menstruation among very young adolescents in rural Ethiopia. Programming that synchronously engages girls, boys, caregivers, and communities can significantly reduce menstrual stigma and improve knowledge and behavior around menstrual health. […]