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Reproductive Health
Published in: Reproductive Health 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research

Interpersonal communication as an agent of normative influence: a mixed method study among the urban poor in India

Authors: Rajiv N. Rimal, Pooja Sripad, Ilene S. Speizer, Lisa M. Calhoun

Published in: Reproductive Health | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Background

Although social norms are thought to play an important role in couples’ reproductive decisions, only limited theoretical or empirical guidance exists on how the underlying process works. Using the theory of normative social behavior (TNSB), through a mixed-method design, we investigated the role played by injunctive norms and interpersonal discussion in the relationship between descriptive norms and use of modern contraceptive methods among the urban poor in India.

Methods

Data from a household survey (N = 11,811) were used to test the underlying theoretical propositions, and focus group interviews among men and women were then conducted to obtain more in-depth knowledge about decision-making processes related to modern contraceptive use.

Results

Spousal influence and interpersonal communication emerged as key factors in decision-making, waning in the later years of marriage, and they also moderated the influence of descriptive norms on behaviors. Norms around contraceptive use, which varied by parity, are rapidly changing with the country’s urbanization and increased access to health information.

Conclusion

Open interpersonal discussion, community norms, and perspectives are integral in enabling women and couples to use modern family planning to meet their current fertility desires and warrant sensitivity in the design of family planning policy and programs.
Footnotes
1
Ethics approval was granted by University of North Carolina (Speizer, Principal Investigator) for the quantitative data and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (Rimal, Principal Investigator) for the qualitative data (work was done during Rimal’s tenure at Johns Hopkins University).
 
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Metadata
Title
Interpersonal communication as an agent of normative influence: a mixed method study among the urban poor in India
Authors
Rajiv N. Rimal
Pooja Sripad
Ilene S. Speizer
Lisa M. Calhoun
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Reproductive Health / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1742-4755
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-015-0061-4

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