Television has developed dramatically over the past six years in Afghanistan with a potential for providing extensive health information to its viewers, yet little is known about the coverage of health issues on Afghan television. Using the theories of agenda-setting and framing, and social norms approach this study explored what health-related topics were covered, how they were covered, and what sociocultural practices were broadcasted by the major Afghan private, national televisions. The study used a sample of six constructed weeks in 2010 of two leading private, national television networks. Firstly, the study found that priority health problems such as maternal and child health, communicable disease and mental health received very less coverage. Secondly, however, individual-level and societal-level causes were blamed equally for the health problems; individual behaviour solutions were the favourite choice of the media, turning a blind eye to government weakness and organizational solutions. Thirdly, self-prescription, religious and traditional health seeking behaviour, and gender inequity were routine practices reflected on television. As the first content analyses of the coverage of health-related issues in Afghanistan, the study provides public health professions, the Afghan media and policy makers a broad picture of health information available to the public on the leading Afghan television stations.

Social norms interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing problematic alcohol use on college campuses. However, not all interventions have been successful, and the campus environment may be responsible for the variable reactions that students have to these interventions. The following three articles investigate the nature and utility of social norms interventions in an environment where alcohol use is relatively low. The first article details an online social norms intervention implemented on a low-use campus. Results suggest that if adapted to the campus culture, a social norms approach to reducing alcohol use could be successful in this unique environment. The second article investigates the impact of social norms in the form of censuring alcohol use. Using the theory of reasoned action, the study shows how alcohol use differs for those exposed to different types of norms, and how attitude toward being censured may change whether exposure to a particular social norm is indicative of decreased alcohol use. The third article is a process evaluation of the social norms intervention in a unique environment. It reviews difficulties encountered in implementing an intervention as well as recommendations for future online approaches to intervention implementation.

The purpose of this paper is to test the ability of Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior and Shapero's model of the entrepreneurial event to predict entrepreneurial intent (EI) among Swedish university students. A conceptual framework was developed where attitude towards entrepreneurial behavior was constituted by perceived self-efficacy, perceived social norms, and independence and serves as a mediator for the EI.A comparison between three focus groups composed of non-business students, business students and participants from the 'Enterprising & Business Development' (EBD) program at Linnaeus University was undertaken. The results show all three studied variables are significant determinants of EI, which in turn is a precursor of the attitude toward entrepreneurial behaviour. However, evidence suggests a negative relationship between the perceived social norms and the EI among EBD and business students.This paper contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by testing how certain factors affect the EI of university students. Its originality arises from combining the two most significant models for EI and applying them to three groups with different prerequisites. Although the study is subject to some limitations, they can be overcome by further studies.

The current study examines two psychological experiences—rationalization and regret—among smokers from Thailand and Malaysia and the behavioural impact of rationalization and regret—intentions to quit. More specifically, the goals of the study were not only to examine differences between the two countries in rationalization, regret, and intentions to quit, but also to explain country differences by using the psychological constructs of social norms and the cultural psychological construct of collectivism (via mediation and moderation analyses). The data were from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy Evaluation Southeast Asia Survey, a cohort survey of representative samples of adult smokers in Thailand (N = 2,000) and Malaysia (N = 2,006). The ITC Southeast Asia Survey was conducted January-March 2005. Participants were asked to complete a 40-minute in-person survey. Thai smokers were more likely to have intentions to quit smoking than Malaysian smokers and this country difference in quit intentions were, in part, explained by differences between the two countries in rationalization and regret, and that those variables, in turn, were significant predictors of quit intentions. Next, the psychological constructs of social norms and the cultural psychology construct of collectivism were used to explain the country differences in rationalization and regret. Thai smokers were more traditional and family oriented (high in vertical collectivism) and thus, they are more sensitive about their social norm and familial rejections about smoking. This, in part, contributed the fact that Thai smokers, compared to Malaysian smokers, were less likely to rationalize and more likely to regret smoking. Finally, the predictive models of rationalization and regret for Thailand and Malaysia were mirror images. The current study points to the importance of understanding smokers’ rationalization and regret. Rationalization and regret are negatively related and have an important implication for future behaviour. Different social norms against smoking, which are shaped by different regulatory environments and cultural values, contribute to the country differences in rationalization and regret. This study has demonstrated the benefits/value of psychological constructs in understanding smoking in a cultural context.

The current study examines two psychological experiences—rationalization and regret—among smokers from Thailand and Malaysia and the behavioural impact of rationalization and regret—intentions to quit. More specifically, the goals of the study were not only to examine differences between the two countries in rationalization, regret, and intentions to quit, but also to explain country differences by using the psychological constructs of social norms and the cultural psychological construct of collectivism (via mediation and moderation analyses). The data were from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy Evaluation Southeast Asia Survey, a cohort survey of representative samples of adult smokers in Thailand (N = 2,000) and Malaysia (N = 2,006). The ITC Southeast Asia Survey was conducted January-March 2005. Participants were asked to complete a 40-minute in-person survey. Thai smokers were more likely to have intentions to quit smoking than Malaysian smokers and this country difference in quit intentions were, in part, explained by differences between the two countries in rationalization and regret, and that those variables, in turn, were significant predictors of quit intentions. Next, the psychological constructs of social norms and the cultural psychology construct of collectivism were used to explain the country differences in rationalization and regret. Thai smokers were more traditional and family oriented (high in vertical collectivism) and thus, they are more sensitive about their social norm and familial rejections about smoking. This, in part, contributed the fact that Thai smokers, compared to Malaysian smokers, were less likely to rationalize and more likely to regret smoking. Finally, the predictive models of rationalization and regret for Thailand and Malaysia were mirror images. The current study points to the importance of understanding smokers’ rationalization and regret. Rationalization and regret are negatively related and have an important implication for future behaviour. Different social norms against smoking, which are shaped by different regulatory environments and cultural values, contribute to the country differences in rationalization and regret. This study has demonstrated the benefits/value of psychological constructs in understanding smoking in a cultural context.

The aim of this study is to point out different aspects of modernity in the cookbook Husmoderns Köksalmanack. It is a publication that has been published annually since 1933. The books have been studied in the light of Anthony Giddens´ theoretical perspective on modernity. The study is based on three different themes that all can be linked to modernity. These themes are; Time and space, Locally, regionally and globally, and Advice. I also want to demonstrate that these books can be seen as part of a larger structural context. The results show that Husmoderns Köksalmanack can be viewed as an arena for several aspects of modernity, and it can also help to create and maintain social norms in this area.

The influence of peers and peer norms is a significant health determinant of adolescent sexual activity, yet little is known in health education about differences between peer pressure and friend pressure on adolescents. The objective of this study was to investigate differences between social norms among friends and social norms among peers and determine if differences influence adolescents’ sexual risk perceptions. As a secondary data analysis of the 2006 Adolescent Health Risk Behaviors Survey data, this study included 915 adolescents in grades 8, 10, and 12 who completed questions pertaining to perceived sexual activity rates and perceived risks from having unprotected sex. T-tests, analyses of variance, and linear regression analyses indicated that adolescents perceived a difference between social norms among peers and social norms among friends and that these differences influenced risk perceptions differently. Future research should explore how social norms among friends influence adolescents’ risk behaviors and how to incorporate this focus into effective and efficient sex education efforts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-174). Also available on the World Wide Web.

In despite of all attention drawn to child marriage across the world, there is a lack of improvement. The object of this research is to look into under what circumstances child marriage does exist and how girls’ living conditions can be improved. Focus shall be put on child marriage in general exemplified in particular by two countries in Africa, namely Niger and Chad, who both are countries with an extremely high rate of child marriage. This is a desk study based on various reports regarding the subject in the different countries and also in general. As the theoretical framework, the sex role theory is applied in order to analyze the phenomenon. Studies indicate a great difference in the number of young married girls in comparison to boys across the globe. Even though boys can be victims of child marriage, the consequences are less severe and therefore, focus shall be put on girls only in this thesis. The number of girls entering early marriage has not been found to stagnate everywhere, but the age of when entering marriage tends to increase. In fact, child marriage has become more common in some areas. From the research it is concluded that one cannot generalize all underlying causes of child marriage, but one must be aware of the specific circumstances in the particular areas. Conclusions regarding underlying factors and correlations are further to be found and presented in the text.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.