This course is Part 2 of the Social Norms, Social Change series. In this course, we will examine social change, the tools we may use to enact change, and put into practice all we have learned in Part 1. See Social Norms, Social Change Part I at this link: https://coursera.org/learn/norms This course covers scripts and schemas, the cognitive structures in which social expectations are embedded, and their relationship with social norms. The course then examines the essentials of norm abandonment, including the relations between personal beliefs and social expectations. We will also evaluate existing intervention strategies, including legal reforms, information campaigns, economic incentives, and group deliberations. Finally, we look at a variety of tools policy makers may use to effect change, highlight the role of trendsetters in social change, and explore the conditions under which they can be successful. The course is a joint Penn-UNICEF project." Please see the following link for a 30% discount on the book that accompanies this course: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/9780190622053/?cc=us&lang=en&promocode=AAFLYG6
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Social Norms, Social Change II
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Trendsetters and Social Change
This module covers trendsetters and their relations to social change. Who are trendsetters? What are their characteristics? How can we identify them? And how can we use them to bring about positive social change. This module also discusses the role of soap operas and edutainment in bringing about social change, how fictional characters and groups can act as trendsetters, and comparative advantages of edutainment interventions over traditional interventions.
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Cristina BicchieriS. J. Patterson Harvie Professor of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics
Department of Philosophy
[MUSIC]
In a large population, the effects of radio and television,
particularly soap operas, on behavioral change can be quite powerful.
Studies of defects of Indian soap operas on gender schemas report
that often village man refer to the television as a driver for change.
One man, for example, remarked that since TV had come to the village,
women were doing less work than before.
So, men had to do more work, like helping wives to clean the house.
But how did this evoke this change?
If the viewers perceive the television characters to be representative
of real people and real situations,
as is often the case, then these characters fill the role of the highly
publicized trendsetter teaching people about alternative lifestyles.
The main character of a story about education or child marriage, maybe a girl,
belonging to a very difficult family, with which people can easily identify.
The novelty is that the girl has different aspirations.
For example, she wants an education, and maybe wants to marry for love.
This fictitious character takes the place of a real trendsetter, and
her adventures can draw attention to the hurdles and
trials that new behavior will likely encounter.
The representative, yet rebellious, protagonist
not only deviates from established norms, but their deviance meets with success.
This leads viewers to expect that if they were to oppose the established norm,
then they would meet with the same success.
Radio and television, with their fictional characters,
greatly exceed a real trendsetter ability to change empirical expectations.
The same message,
when presented through a highly popular soap opera reaches many more people.
It gets more powerful because everybody knows
that all their friends watch the same program.
Change in behavior, in this case, should be perceived as less risky and isolating.
Some governments and international organizations have attempted to
harness the power of entertainment to produce meaningful social changes.
Such production are termed education entertainment, or edutainment.
One of the earliest edutainment production, Simplemente Maria,
which means simply Maria, was produced in Peru, and
offered an alternative rags to riches reality of a young woman who
successfully achieved upward social mobility through hard work and education.
The effects on the watchers we're significant.
Enrollment in adult literacy classes grew in Peru and surrounding countries.
Maids rose in social status, likely because the star of the show was a maid.
And sales of sewing machines, which Maria frequently used, are mushroomed.
When one designed entertainment productions,
essentially provide a tutorial for social change.
Through vicarious reproduction of what effective change can look like.
They demonstrate to viewers what they should expect
when engaging in new behavior.
When the characters deviate from the socially prototypical behaviors,
they typically made to success.
Signaling to the viewers that if they were to do the same,
they would also be successful.
This process likely amplifies the viewers perceived self efficacy,
making them more willing to deviate.
Tinka Tinka Sukh, which means happiness lies in small things, was an especially
effective Indian radio soap designed to promote equality and female empowerment.
Studies of the effects of the soap opera in the village of Lutsan
showed that it had a powerful influence.
Indeed, village leaders sent a large [INAUDIBLE] letter signed by 184 of
its residents proclaiming, listening to Tinka Tinka Sukh
has benefited all listeners of our village, especially the women.
Our village now actively opposes the practice of dowry.
The program gave listeners clear examples of what happens when
actors engage in maladaptive, or harmful lifestyles.
Child marriage results in a death through childbirth.
And a bride's inadequate dowry results in extreme mistreatment
by her husband family.
Eventually, the protagonist signaled his approval for these practices,
showing a low norm sensitivity, and reject them in favor of more progressive ones.
Personal, and collective efficacy are also stressed.
Several of the show initial negative characters are able to abandon
their vices and direct their lives in healthier directions.
The success that this protagonist encounter, and
the tribulation that they overcome, signal to the viewer
that the risk associated with abandoning harmful norms are manageable.
These signals can help reduce the viewer perception of risk,
making them more willing to deviate themselves.
At the same time, the viewer's sensitivity to the standing norm diminishes,
while learning about all the negative consequences of their customary practices.
In addition to providing vivid realistic example of norm change,
the media can promote interactivity from the audience.
An Indian soap opera, HUM LOG, which means we people.
Successfully used viewers to express his opinions on a particular
practice of value illustrated in each episode.
At the end of each episode, Kumar, the father figure,
encouraged viewers to send in letters with our thoughts.
HUM LOG attracted an unprecedented large viewer base that
collectively sent in hundreds of thousands of letters in response to the epilogues.
Analysis of these letters showed that audience members personal normative
beliefs were positively influenced by the show, and
that they felt deeply connected to the characters.
Indeed, many young girls and boys wrote to Kumar
begging him to convince their parents to let them marry the person of their choice.
And enrollment rates of girls in elementary school rose from 10% to
38% in just one year of home log broadcast.
In sum, successful soap operas and
other media based narrative have a magic potential to change social norms.
They present alternative ways of behaving and
show the negative consequences of traditional practices.
Lowering the norm sensitivity of their viewers.
By vividly illustrating the deviance can meet with success,
they also lower viewer risk perception, and
booster their confidence in their ability to bring change.
Because people often watch the shows together and know that many others
are watching elsewhere, they updated normative expectation as they
come to believe that many others now disapprove of the traditional practice.
These narratives typically feature characters that are representative of
all major social groups.
For example, rich, poor, mother, father, child, teacher, and so on.
The fact that the shows portray members of all walk of life,
coming together to condemn the practice signals that many members
of the viewer reference network may also be aware of the problems
associated with the practice, and they might be willing to fight it.
All these elements will make individuals more willing to deviate from a norm.
As Sophria Mokershis stated in the interview you can watch
in video seven of lecture eleven, to be successful,
soap operas need to stay on air for a long time.
The message must be clear, and they must reach large numbers of people.
With this in mind, what are the advantages of soap operas, or
entertainment, over other tools to spearhead social change?
If perfectly coordinated, abandonment is not necessary,
then people will abandon a social norm at a faster rate then they would otherwise,
assuming that the production stays on the air,
until non-abandonment has reached a tipping point.
Sending girls to school, or changing breast feeding practices are examples
of a situation where change does not require full participation.
On the other hand, if abandoning a norm course for
strong coordination, a positive affect of this type of media exposure
is that coordination maybe attainable at an earlier point in time.
Regal and economic intervention can and should be be implemented, but
do not always reach everyone in an area.
Soap operas, which are likely to reach a large number of people,
spread the intended message in a format that people can relate to.
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