Maria Hernandez de Benito presented innovative measurement tools from the MAGNET initiative at the International Behavioral Public Policy Conference (IBPPC) on June 24, 2024. The session, titled "Measuring Social and Gender Norms for Better Policy Design," also featured contributions from Ana Maria Munoz Boudet, Dana Qarout, and Maurizio Bussolo.
Agency and social norms are pivotal in shaping individual behavior and societal outcomes. Women's ability to set and achieve goals—core to their agency—is often constrained by prevailing social norms. The four measurement tools presented aim to capture the importance of individuals’ own preferences as well as the role played by internalized social norms.
The first measure discussed is a set of intra-household decision-making survey questions, capturing whether individuals actually want to be involved in the decisions, and the reasons why they might not be. The second is a set of vignettes designed to measure motivational autonomy, with a special focus on distinguishing between introjected/integrated motivation and external coercion. The third is an automatic cognition test aimed at assessing internalized social norms regarding gendered occupations. The fourth is a critical consciousness scale focused on gender equality, aimed at capturing the awareness, endorsement of equality, and action to change perceived inequalities regarding intra-household decision-making, working outside the household, and community/political participation.
International Food Policy Research Institute