Work

How Modernization Instigates Social Change

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: This research examines how technology usage can instigate social change in a developing country. We expected that technology usage leads to changes in modern cultural values and attitudes toward gender equality while traditional values persist. This was tested in an information and communication technology (ICT) for Development Aid project among Ethiopian children who had received a laptop. A longitudinal field experiment compared children who received a laptop ( n = 573) with a matched control group without a laptop ( n = 485). Measures were taken before laptop introduction and 6 months later. Laptops had medium to strong effects on value and attitude change, particularly in rural areas. Children with laptops endorsed modern values more strongly, but traditional values were bolstered as well. Modern value change mediated the effect of laptop usage on the endorsement of gender equality. Theoretical and practical implications for cultural changes related to gender equality are discussed.

Source: Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

DOI: 10.1177/0022022114537554

Authors: Nina Hansen, Tom Postmes, K. Annika Tovote, Annemarie Bos

Institutions: University of Groningen, University of London, Goldsmiths University of London

Language: English

Topic: ICT in Developing Communities

Subfield: Information Systems

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Gender equality

Open Access status: green

Funder: Economic and Social Research Council