<mark>Our baseline survey closely follows the framework of social norms measurement outlined above to elicit four key aspects of latrine use—what respondents do, what they think others do, what respondents believe is appropriate behavior, and what respondents think others believe is appropriate behavior. The reported levels of latrine usage at baseline are slightly higher for our respondents compared to the average across UP (which is not surprising given that the latrine penetration in these villages is also higher than average), with 76% of male respondents and 84% of female respondents reporting that they usually defecate in latrines, and 68% and 82% respectively reporting that they last defecated in a latrine. However, to account for nuances in the frequency of latrine use, our key outcome variable (where respondents usually defecate), which we use for the remainder of the section, provides a wider range of frequency options (always, usually, or sometimes).</mark> <mark>Table 4 (below) summarizes the key findings from the baseline survey. The average latrine use score across our survey sample was 0.74, with men scoring slightly higher (0.79) than women (0.72) on average. This indicates that while latrine use is fairly common among this group, some deviation is likely. Normative beliefs of respondents, however, show much more variation. While beliefs about the negative aspects of open defecation—whether it is bad, harmful, or shameful—are strong, with a score of 0.83 on average across all respondents, latrine use is not considered essential. Both men and women believe that it is acceptable to engage in open defecation under various extenuating circumstances. Scores on the “exception not okay” index were 0.58 for men, and only 0.39 for women. The low score for women is especially surprising when one takes into consideration that women, across studies, tend to report lower rates of open defecation relative to men. However, given the mobility restrictions women face in rural UP, as well as the risk and shame associated with the lack of privacy when defecating in the open, their choice of using latrines may be more a product of convenience than conviction about the normative importance of latrine use. Women, similarly, tend to associate latrines with impurity, and score lower</mark> — <mark>(0.32) than men (0.77) on questions about whether latrines make the house impure (reverse‐scored) once again, suggesting that their beliefs may not be the main driver of their behavior.</mark>

**<mark>Table 4. Baseline Findings</mark>**

|**Variables**|**Male**|**Female**|**All**|**Observations**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**_Behavior_**|||||
|Last defecated in latrine (binary)|68%|82%|73%|204|
|Usually defecates in latrines|0.72|0.79|0.74|204|
||(0.37)|(0.33)|(0.35)||
|Admonishes open defecation (binary)|0.56|0.38|0.50|201|
||(0.50)|(0.49)|(0.50)||
|**_Personal normative beliefs_**|||||
|OD is bad/harmful|0.84|0.80|0.83|204|
||(0.30)|(0.30)|(0.30)||
|Exceptions not okay|0.58|0.39|0.52|204|
||(0.35)|(0.37)|(0.37)||
|Latrine doesn’t make home impure|0.77|0.32|0.62|203|
||(0.41)|(0.47)|(0.48)||
|**_Social empirical expectations_**|||||
|Where others of same gender usually|0.37|0.39|0.38|204|
|defecate|(0.23)|(0.27)|(0.25)||

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