Mass Communication, Cosmopolite Channels, and Family Planning Among Villagers in Mexico

Abstract

An attempt was made to explore in greater detail the relative contribution of different external communication channels on 1 type of social change i.e. the adoption of family planning practices. The data were collected in a Mexican village which is located about 60 miles from Mexico City and about 6 miles from the capital of the State of Mexico. The village which can be characterized by a subsistence economy is composed of about 100 farming families with an average of 4.5 children/family. The majority of the adults in the village are involved in agriculture but some of the youth travel to the nearby city for industrial employment. 81 females and 55 males were interviewed during the fall of 1978 and the winter of 1979. The interviewees constituted all villagers of 12 years of age or older who could be reached and who consented to be interviewed. The independent variables in the analysis were indices of media use and travel/interpersonal communication. Dependent variables were indices of family planning knowledge attitudes and practice. To detect any relationship between exposure to external communication channels and family size the ultimate goal of family planning programs number of children was also treated as a dependent variable. Of the 136 respondents 80% reported having a radio at home and 62% reported having heard family planning messages on the radio. 63% said that they did not know how to read and only 15% reported having read family planning messages. 35% reported watching television regularly and 18% reported having been exposed to family planning messages on television. 90% reported having traveled in the previous month to other towns or cities but only 7% reported having traveled in the past month to Mexico City. 34% of the sample indicated that they knew of at least 1 family planning method and 13% indicated that they knew how to use at least 1 method. 79% reported having never used any family planning method. The more the respondent reported about being exposed to radio the more he/she knew about family planning and practiced it and the fewer children she/he had. The greater the respondents reported exposure to print media the more positive was his/her attitude towards family planning and the fewer children she/he reported having. The more a person traveled to Mexico City the more likely he/she was to report practicing family planning regardless of age sex or socioeconomic status.