Televised serial dramas measurably shift family-planning behavior nationwide

Evidence

Compared with nonviewers, heavy viewers of the dramatic serial were more likely to link lower childbearing to social, economic, and psychological benefits. They also developed a more positive attitude toward helping others plan their families (Institute for Communication Research, 1981). Records from family-planning centers revealed a 32% increase in the number of new contraceptive users over the number for the previous year, before the series was televised. As shown in Figure 8.4, national sales of contraceptives changed little in the preceding two baseline years but increased sharply by 23% in the year the program was broadcast. People reported that the televised serial was the impetus for consulting the centers. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2857

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the vault’s existing media-effect interests and Bandura’s modeling mechanism; real behavior change data grounds the psychological mechanism claim. — connects to: Entertainment-education radio serials can measurably change reproductive behavior; A radio serial drama tripled contraceptive use among Niger listeners
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2857