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 […]
More Than Brides Alliance: Endline Evaluation Report
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The More Than Brides Alliance (MTBA) endline evaluation shows that shifting social norms—particularly around the value of girls’ education, the ideal age of marriage, and gender roles in relationships—is central to reducing child marriage. While individual-level knowledge and attitudes improved across intervention sites, broader normative change was uneven and highly context-specific. […]
Season Three | Consolidated Evaluation Brief
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The MKBKSH (“Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon”) intervention illustrates the power of transmedia edutainment in challenging and reshaping social norms around family planning, gender equality, sanitation, and reproductive health in India. By using relatable storylines, interactive platforms, and community-based “markers” like “Lambi Sagai” and “Aurat ki Marzi ka Din,” the […]
Encoded exposure and social norms in entertainment-education
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study provides empirical evidence that entertainment-education (EE) programs can influence social norms directly through audience exposure, without necessarily relying on behavior change as a mediator. It highlights the importance of “encoded exposure”—a multi-dimensional measure capturing attention, recall, involvement, and frequency of engagement—with findings suggesting that deep and sustained involvement with […]
EXPLORING KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND BELIEFS ABOUT CHILD MARRIAGE IN BANGLADESH THROUGH A TRANSMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT-EDUCATION INITATIVE.
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study illustrates how transmedia Entertainment-Education (EE) can shift perceptions around child marriage by engaging viewers across multiple social-ecological levels. Exposure to the Icchedana programme was associated with greater disapproval of child marriage, particularly in interpersonal and societal domains. Despite education being a key determinant of child marriage, social norms persist […]
Growing Up GREAT! Wave 4 Report
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study shows that shifting knowledge and attitudes among adolescents is not enough to produce lasting change unless efforts also confront the persistent gender norms and power structures embedded in family and community life. Although the Growing Up Great programme increased awareness and fostered more equitable views, especially among girls, entrenched […]
Growing Up GREAT! End of Project Report
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Growing Up Great! program highlights the importance of targeting deeply rooted social norms that restrict adolescent girls’ bodily autonomy and decision-making power. The evaluation found that while individual knowledge and attitudes improved, sustained gender and power hierarchies in families and communities limited girls’ ability to act on this information. The […]
Transforming social norms to improve girl-child health and well-being: a realist evaluation of the Girls’ Holistic Development program in rural Senegal
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This evaluation highlights the effectiveness of community-driven, culturally embedded strategies to shift social norms that influence early marriage, adolescent pregnancy, and girls’ education. By restoring and elevating grandmothers’ traditional roles, the Girls’ Holistic Development program facilitated intergenerational dialogue, leading to greater social cohesion and community alignment around delaying marriage and supporting […]
Measuring the effectiveness of communication programming on menstrual health and hygiene management (MHM) social norms among adolescent girls in India
Key Social Norms Take-aways: This study demonstrates that social and behavior change interventions can effectively shift social norms surrounding menstruation when these norms are conceptualized as multidimensional constructs—encompassing personal beliefs, perceived peer approval (injunctive norms), and perceptions of others’ behaviors (descriptive norms). The GARIMA initiative revealed that increased exposure to positive messaging significantly aligned personal […]
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 […]