Abstract
Current theories of global cultural diffusion outline abstract mechanisms through which cultural scripts spread across the world. To reveal how scripts reach individuals, one must identify the specific pathways of diffusion. I examine the case of how scripts about gender relations and violence are diffused through mass media to people in Malawi. Using a mixed-methods approach, I find that international development organizations work with Malawian journalists to produce an array of content denouncing the practice of men abusing women. Entertainment media companies, however, disseminate content portraying patriarchal gender stereotypes. I show that mass media content critical of men’s violence of women is positively associated with people’s stated rejection of this practice, whereas individuals’ exposure to content mixed with patriarchal scripts is not. Notably, a one-standard-deviation increase in the number of newspaper articles critically covering men’s abuse toward women in the 30 days leading up to a person’s unique survey interview date is associated with a 3.2 (women) or 2.1 (men) percentage-point increase in the probability of respondents stating that they condemn such violence. Broadly, the results outline a multifaceted portrait of global cultural diffusion, with liberal and patriarchal scripts simultaneously reaching individual people.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
