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G-NORM Scale

The G-NORM Scale is an 18-item measure of gender norms covering both descriptive and injunctive norms. The measure moves beyond individual attitudes by assessing women’s perceptions of community-level gender norms.

Categories

Geographies Tested: India

Populations Included: Female

Age Range: Adolescents, Adults

Items:

Descriptive norms: “In most families that I know…”
1. Taking care of children is only the woman’s job.
2. Only men are the ones who earn money for the family.
3. There are times when a husband beats (hits) his wife.
4. Women obey their husbands in all matters.
5. Only men make decisions about household income and expenses.
6. Women ask permission from their husbands to get medical treatment of any kind.
7. Husbands make the decision about buying major household items (e.g., television, refrigerator, bicycle, motor bikes).
8. Women eat last, after all the family members have eaten.
9. Women eat whatever is left over after the rest of their family has finished eating.

Injunctive norms: “Most families that I know believe that…”
10. It should only be a woman’s job to take care of the children.
11. Men should be the only ones who earn money for the family.
12. Women should be beaten in certain circumstances.
13. Women should obey their husbands in all matters.
14. Only men should be responsible for household income & expenses.
15. Women should ask permission from their husbands to get medical treatment of any kind.
16. Husbands should make the decision about buying major household items (e.g., television, refrigerator, bicycle, motor bikes).
17. Women should eat last, after all the family members have eaten.
18. Women should eat whatever is left over after the rest of their family has eaten.

Response Options:
5-point Likert scale
Strongly disagree - 1
Strongly agree - 5

Scoring Procedures

The mean score is computed for both subscales as well as the total G-NORM Scale. All items are reverse-scored for ease of interpretation so that higher scores mean more equitable gender norms.

Original Citation

Sedlander, E., Bingenheimer, J. B., Long, M. W., Swain, M., & Rimal, R. N. (2022). The G-NORM Scale: Development and validation of a theory-based gender norms scale. Sex Roles. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-022-01319-9


Psychometric Score

Ease of Use Score

Scoring breakdown

Formative Research

Qualitative Research

Existing Literature/Theoretical Framework

Field Expert Input

Cognitive Interviews / Pilot Testing

Reliability

Internal

Test-retest

Interrater

Validity

Content

Face

Criterion (gold-standard)

Construct

KEY

Ease of Use

Readability

Scoring Clarity

Length

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