Perceived Social Norm Liberalization
RCTReview
Men and community members often resist female labor force participation due to perceived social stigma, such as the belief that a working wife reflects poorly on a husband's ability to provide for his family.
Picture this
Perceived norm liberalization is like realizing that neighbors are not actually judging someone for trying something new. When people see many women taking up work and banking without public backlash, men realize that society will not look down on them as bad providers, lowering the social penalty for allowing women to work.
What the evidence says
Assignment to the full intervention group resulted in a 0.08–0.09 standard deviation liberalization in a perceived gender norms index, reducing the perception that husbands of working women would be judged negatively.
- Who was studied
- N = 5,851 women and community members in 197 gram panchayats in rural Madhya Pradesh, India.
- How
- Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) evaluating changes in personal beliefs ("own norms") versus perceived community reactions ("perceived norms") across 2013–2017 survey rounds.
What to do
Measure and target community-level perceived social norms alongside individual economic incentives to reduce anticipated social penalties associated with female employment.
From the source
"Overall, assignment to the bank account, direct deposit, and training group resulted in a 0.08-0.09 standard deviation liberalization in a perceived gender norms index."
Impact_of_Financial_Control_on_Womens_Labor_Supply_and_Gender_Norms.pdf