Understanding What Influences Us

As we continue our foray into the world of new media and prosocial digital content for women, we’re always trying to improve our understanding of our audience and the social & environmental forces that influence attitudes and identities. 

Time for some science: here’s a social-ecological model Galvanize USA staff learned about together a few years ago. Psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner created it to show influences in childhood development, not adult women, but it’s still a useful way to diagram and think about the different influences that shape people. The outer layers show broader cultural influences while the inner layers show more direct and personal influences.

INDIVIDUAL
The innermost circle represents each individual woman we’d like to connect with and things related to her own identity. At Galvanize USA, some of that information (like gender) determines who we seek to build community with.

INTERPERSONAL
The next circle shows unique interpersonal relationships that influence an individual: her spouse, friends, faith community, and colleagues. These people are highly influential!

Humans are wired to look to the people around us when we’re uncertain about what to think, or how to act: that phenomenon is called social proof. Social proof is part of why Galvanize Together and Dear Grace intentionally bring women into a community that prefers hopeful, prosocial behavior.

For example, when a subscriber recently shared a story about showing up for a stranger in need, a Dear Grace article polled the audience about what they would have done in her shoes. Nearly 90% of readers said they’d have defended the person in need too, demonstrating social proof by reinforcing the idea that helping others is good and that’s what most people would do. We’re “normalizing” doing the right thing!

Another point of interest in the interpersonal sphere: women often tell us what the men in their lives think about big issues and what they have to say about current events, especially when they believe those men to be more knowledgeable about those topics. These men can be influential! The intersection of internalized sexism, self-esteem, and civic self-efficacy will continue to be important, so keep this point in mind as we discuss long-term engagement strategies this year.

INSTITUTIONS
The next level of influence covers institutions and organizations like a woman’s specific church, her workplace, or the school her kids go to.

Schools are a very interesting component of this, especially for Galvanize USA’s audience. We all want good schools that support our children and keep them safe; that’s important to just about everyone. More importantly, schools are a part of civic life that most people can imagine interacting with. Petitioning the local city council for a policy change might feel out of reach, but many of our community members are used to joining the PTA or speaking at school board meetings! Schools are a great first way to see how everyday people can influence institutions, and how those institutions can influence us as well.

Schools are also the center of a lot of “hot button” issues in our democracy. From book bans to gun safety to teaching honestly about race or gender, public schools are often the setting for our toughest national conversations. That’s why you’ll see school-based discussions over at Galvanize Together so often, and why teachers and schools are common themes in Galvanize USA ads.

• QUIZ: see how much of our audience supports concealed carrying in the classroom.
• READ: check out the advice Dear Grace offered to a parent who is worried about an unwelcoming PTA. Don’t miss the book recommendation in this one! 

POLICY
The next level is more systemic: it’s about the rules that govern our lives and how they shape people. That covers things like federal and state policies, local laws, and the facets of healthcare, economic, and educational systems that impact all of our lives. 

Galvanize USA engages with women by providing educational content about these important topics. Our issue education messages and Galvanize Together programming build support for things that make everyone’s life better, like good schools and economic policies that help families make ends meet. 

• QUIZ: See how we’re normalizing government assistance over at Galvanize Together. This is social proof at work again!
• WATCH: This message helps women understand why better elder care means stronger families:

CULTURE
The exterior ring is the entire culture that the rest of these circles exist in. It encompasses things like where women get their news, the social media and exceptional advice columns they engage with, the ads they see, and even the music they listen to. Which involves a lot of Taylor Swift, as it turns out.

This year, Galvanize USA is excited to dig into these cultural influences like never before! We’ll start by studying research in the national landscape so we can learn more about the media landscape our community is immersed in and use those learnings to improve our own new media offerings. This spring, our new qualitative digital behavior study will help us learn even more about how our audience spends time online. We hope to discover their preferred platforms, formats, genres, news consumption habits, favorite media, and more insights that we can use to connect in even more creative and meaningful ways. The more we learn, the more we can tailor this outstanding cultural programming to our unique audience!