Private Versus Public Support for Gender Equality: Impact of a Social Norms Intervention for Adolescents in Somalia

Abstract

Using a randomized controlled trial, this paper evaluates the impact of a gender norms intervention for young adolescents in Somalia. The program leads to greater support for gender equality in the privately reported attitudes of girls and boys; with further positive effects on mental health, girls’ aspirations, and boys’ engagement in housework. A novel lab-in-the-field experiment is used to observe social group dynamics among peers to examine attitudes expressed in public and the program’s impact on receptivity to social conformity. We find that treated adolescents are less likely to succumb to peer pressure to conform when stating their gender attitudes in public, leading to greater public expression of egalitarian ideals. Using a placebo test we demonstrate that the treatment effect on social conformity applies only to the gender norms domain. Our findings suggest that social norms interventions can be effective in positively shaping the attitudes and public discourse around gender.

Keywords: Adolescents, conformity, gender, impact evaluation, norms, Somalia