Effects of economic support, comprehensive sexuality education, and community dialogue on sexual behaviour: Findings from a cluster-RCT among adolescent girls in rural Zambia
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study illustrates that combining economic support with community dialogue and comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) can influence adolescent girls’ sexual behavior and perceptions of reproductive health, although not all effects align with intended outcomes. Notably, while these interventions improved knowledge and contraceptive use, they also paradoxically reduced perceived community support for […]
You must first save her life’: Community perceptions towards induced abortion and post-abortion care in North and South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Despite restrictive legal, structural, and socio-normative contexts in the DRC, this study highlights community attitudes toward abortion as multifaceted rather than wholly condemnatory. While abortion stigma is widespread—rooted in moral, religious, and gendered ideals about womanhood and motherhood—community discussions revealed empathy for women who induce abortions in specific contexts, such as […]
Gender norms, poverty and armed conflict in Cote D’Ivoire: engaging men in womens social and economic empowerment programming
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study underscores that addressing social norms about masculinity, power, and gender roles is crucial when designing interventions to reduce IPV. In contexts where men’s sense of identity is tightly linked to their economic role, programs must thoughtfully challenge inequitable norms while supporting men and women together. Combining economic empowerment with […]
Provide care for everyone please’: engaging community leaders as sexual and reproductive health advocates in North and South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study highlights the powerful role that community leaders play in reinforcing or challenging social norms around contraception, abortion, and post-abortion care in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Leaders upheld strong negative attitudes and stigmatizing beliefs about induced abortion, shaped by cultural, religious, and legal norms. However, they also saw […]
Gender Norms, Violence and Adolescent girls’ Trajectories: Evidence from a Field Experiment in India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study underscores the central role of social norms linked to gender roles, marriage, and family honor in shaping adolescent girls’ agency and decision-making in rural West Bengal. Norms that prioritize early marriage, family reputation, and male authority constrain girls’ autonomy, particularly around education, mobility, and sexuality. Shifting these norms requires […]
Impact of an Empowerment and Employability Program for Adolescent Girls: Evidence From India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights how early adolescence presents a critical opportunity to shift gender attitudes and build self-efficacy among girls in India, where restrictive social norms around mobility, education, and employment often limit girls’ potential. The findings show that when girls are equipped with life and employability skills—and when communities, schools, and […]
Students and brides: a qualitative analysis of the relationship between girls’ education and early marriage in Ethiopia and India.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study reveals that persistent social norms in Ethiopia and India devalue girls’ education and prioritize early marriage, often reinforcing traditional gender roles that restrict girls’ autonomy and opportunity. These norms include beliefs that educated girls are less marriageable, that marriage should precede education, and that domestic responsibilities and motherhood outweigh […]
Young Adolescents’ Endorsement of Restrictive Gender Norms: Evidence From a Community-Based Intervention in Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that targeting adult stakeholders through community-based norms diffusion can effectively reduce young adolescents’ endorsement of restrictive gender norms—particularly among boys. It highlights that gender attitudes during early adolescence are strongly shaped by peers, families, and broader social contexts, and that community-level interventions can shift these attitudes when they […]
The media or the message? Experimental evidence on mass media and modern contraception uptake in Burkina Faso
Key Social Norms Take-aways: While the study does not frame its analysis using formal social norms theory or terminology, it implicitly engages with normative influences—particularly descriptive norms—through its mass media intervention. The radio program aimed to shift perceptions of contraceptive use by portraying it as common, accepted, and beneficial. Results suggest that exposure to the […]
Challenges in Changing Social Norms: Evidence from Interventions Targeting Child Marriage in Ethiopia
Key Social Norms Take-Aways: This study underscores that changing social norms is possible but complex. Interventions prompted discussion and shifted some attitudes but also deepened divisions. Gender and power hierarchies remained largely intact, and future programs must anticipate resistance and support collective norm change. Objectives: This study evaluated whether social norms interventions and economic incentives […]