A Pilot RCT Evaluating InThistoGether, an mHealth HIV Prevention Program for Ugandan Youth
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Although not explicitly designed to address social norms, the InThistoGether (ITG) intervention engages with implicit normative beliefs around condom use, sexual behavior, and HIV testing among Ugandan youth. By promoting sex-positive messaging and normalizing discussions of condom use and HIV prevention through daily texts, the intervention subtly challenges stigma and harmful […]
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! 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Communication, Social Norms, and Contraceptive Use among Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Lilongwe, Malawi
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The study highlights that AGYW are strongly influenced by their social ties — particularly partners and peers — when deciding whether to use non-barrier contraception. Interventions seeking to increase contraceptive use should go beyond delivering information or focusing on approval and instead strengthen peer-to-peer and partner communication and address perceptions of […]
Contraceptive Conversations among Adolescent Girls and Young Women and their Partners, Peers, and Older Female Family Members in Lilongwe, Malawi: A Qualitative Analysis
Key Social Norms Take-aways: Social norms around adolescent sexuality, fertility, and contraceptive use significantly shape contraceptive conversations and decision-making among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Malawi. Unmarried and nulliparous AGYW face the greatest communication barriers due to stigma and cultural expectations that link contraceptive use to promiscuity and nonbarrier methods to infertility. These […]
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 […]
Monitoring the quality assurance branding campaign Confiance Totale in Côte d’Ivoire
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Confiance Totale campaign effectively influenced social norms related to family planning by leveraging mass media to challenge misperceptions about peer behaviors and build trust in healthcare providers. The campaign’s ideational approach shifted both descriptive and injunctive norms, particularly among women, and encouraged greater partner communication and decision-making autonomy. These changes […]
Community Radio Program to Improve the Health of Women and Children
Key Social Norms Take-aways: The Kwishilya and Siñalamba radio serial dramas (RSDs) in Zambia show that entertainment-education can shift social norms around family planning, gender roles, and reproductive health. Regular listeners were more likely to perceive community and partner approval for contraceptive use and reported greater self-efficacy in negotiating reproductive decisions. The intervention helped normalize […]