Community-Level Restrictive Gender Norms is a 14-item measure of descriptive norms (what the respondent thinks others do) and injunctive norms (what the respondent believes others think that s/he should do) related to gender for young adolescents. Items cover five domains: education, time use, financial inclusion and economic empowerment, relationships and marriage, and sexual and reproductive health.
Geographies Tested: Bangladesh,Ethiopia
Populations Included: Female, Male
Age Range: Adolescents
Education
1. Our culture makes it harder for girls to achieve their goals than boys
2. Adolescent girls in my community are more likely to be out of school than adolescent boys
3. Girls in my community are sent to school only if they are not needed to help at home
4. Most people in my community expect girls to be sent to school only if they are not needed at home
Time Use
5. Most boys and girls in my community do not share household tasks equally
6. Most people in my community expect men to have the final word about decisions in the home
7. Most people in my community do not expect girls and boys to share household tasks equally
8. Most men in my community are the ones who make the decisions in their home
Financial Inclusion and Economic Empowerment
9. Most women in my community have the same chance to work outside the home as men*
10. Most people in my community expect women to have the same chance to work outside the home as men*
Relationships and Marriage
11. Most adolescent girls in my community marry before the age of 18 years
12. Adults in my community expect adolescent girls to get married before the age of 18 years
Sexual and Reproductive Health
13. Most families in my community control their daughters’ behaviors more than their sons’
14. Most people in my community expect families to control their daughter’s behavior more than their sons’
*Items are reverse scored
Response Options:
Agree/Partially Agree - 1
Disagree/Partially Disagree - 2
The final measure score is created by summing the values of the 14 norms questions, with larger values reflecting highly gender-inequitable norms.
Baird, S., Bhutta, Z. A., Hamad, B. A., Hicks, J. H., Jones, N., & Muz, J. (2019). Do restrictive gender attitudes and norms influence physical and mental health during very young Adolescence? Evidence from Bangladesh and Ethiopia. SSM Popul Health, 9, 100480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2019.100480
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