Speaker Nicholas Magnan - Stifled by Stigma? Experimental Effects of Updating Husbands’ Beliefs on Participation in Household Work
- Event Type
- Seminar/Symposium
- Sponsor
- ACE (Dept of Agricultural and Consumer Economics)
- Location
- 428 Mumford Hall
- Virtual
- Join online
- Date
- Oct 3, 2025 12:00 - 1:00 pm
- Speaker
- Dr. Nicholas Magnan, Professor, Colorado State Univeristy, Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics
- Views
- 34
Abstract
Women disproportionately shoulder unpaid care and domestic work, a disparity rooted in persistent social norms about gender roles across cultures, income levels, and labor force participation patterns. In our rural Ethiopia sample, over 90% of men personally find it acceptable for men to engage in these tasks. However, many misperceive their peers’ beliefs, and almost none participate in chores or childcare at baseline. Our hour-long information session corrected these misperceptions by revealing high peer acceptance of men’s involvement in tasks like collecting firewood, caring for children, and doing laundry. Importantly, men also learned that their peers received the same information. Following the intervention, men in the treatment group significantly increased participation in childcare and laundry compared to the control group. While childcare participation effects persisted a year later, the effect on laundry tasks was short-lived.