What are social norms?
Social norms are the informal rules that govern behavior in society. These norms are determined by what we do, what we believe others do, and what we think others expect us to do. Social norms can influence individual behaviors through social sanctions like exclusion when someone does not follow the norm, and social benefits like acceptance and respect when social norms are followed. Perceived norms are an individual’s beliefs about a behavior and whether it is approved or not, while collective norms reflect the group’s actual behavior and their attitudes towards the behavior.
Which norms influence modern family planning use?
Collective gender and fertility norms have been shown to influence modern family planning use, although findings have been mixed. Women who live in communities with higher levels of women’s empowerment often have higher odds of using a modern method of family planning.
Men’s and women’s modern family planning use may be influenced by different collective norms or by the same collective norms to differing degrees. This study explores the ideal number of children, women’s participation in family planning decision making, women’s empowerment, and men’s beliefs about family planning and promiscuity, and compares the effects of these collective norms on modern family planning use among women and men.
Modern Family Planning Use among Women and Men in Nepal, Nigeria, and Zambia
In Nepal, men are more likely than women to use a modern method of family planning (58% compared to 45% of women). In Nigeria, fewer men (12%) report using modern family planning compared to women (14%). While in Zambia, there is no real difference in modern family planning use between men (51%) and women (54%).
In all three countries included in this study, modern methods of family planning include male and female sterilization, injectables, intrauterine devices (IUDs), contraceptive pills, implants, female and male condoms, the standard days method, lactational amenorrhea method (LAM), and emergency contraception.
Norms around Desired Fertility Influence Modern Family Planning Use
For women, desired fertility – the average ideal number of children among women in the community – is the only collective norm that consistently influences modern family planning use. In general, women who live in communities with a higher desired fertility norm have lower odds of using modern methods of family planning across all three study countries.
For men, desired fertility norms among men influence modern family planning use in Nigeria and Zambia but not in Nepal. The same pattern is observed for men as with women in both Nigeria and Zambia: men who live in communities with higher desired fertility among men have lower odds of using modern family planning.
All other collective gender and fertility norms have varying influence on modern family planning use across the three study countries.
Let's take a closer look at the similarities and differences between Nigeria and Zambia.
Gender and women's empowerment norms
Collective gender and women’s empowerment norms have varied effects on modern family planning use. In communities where more women are involved in family planning decisions, Nigerian women have higher odds of using modern family planning, while Zambian women have lower odds.
Different domains of women’s empowerment have different effects. In Zambia women and men in communities that are less accepting of domestic violence are more likely to use modern family planning. In Nigeria, community level of non-acceptance of domestic violence influences women's use of modern family planning but has no impact on men's use of modern family planning. Higher community levels of women's social independence and household decision making lower odds of modern family planning use in Zambia and had no effect in Nigeria.
Men in Nigeria who live in communities where more men believe that family planning makes women more promiscuous have higher odds of using modern family planning.
Community norms influence individual family planning behaviors, but not in the same ways for men and women, and not in the same ways in different country contexts.
Understanding the influence of collective norms on men's and women’s modern family planning use is essential for planning programs which may work to change these norms to meet men and women’s family planning needs.
More from The DHS Program
Data from the 2016 Nepal DHS, 2018 Nigeria DHS, and 2018 Zambia DHS were used in this study.
Riese, Sara, Shireen Assaf, and Jeffrey Edmeades. 2022. Collective Gender and Fertility Norms and Modern Contraceptive Use. DHS Analytical Studies No. 82. Rockville, Maryland, USA: ICF.
The DHS Program collects thousands of population and health indicators in 90 countries worldwide. To explore fertility-related indicators, visit STATcompiler and select "Fertility" and "Fertility Preferences" from the Complete List of indicators.
Code for this analysis is available at The DHS Program's GitHub site.
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