Cancelled: Conformity or Silence?

Social norms, social image concerns, and social stigma are all factors which can shape the public expression of opinion. With increased political polarization and the rise of social media, many prominent voices have recently argued that some of these social norms have become too strict and that fear of social backlash has led to a stifling of freedom of expression. We study how perceived social pressure affects the public expression of opinion. How sensitive are individuals to current concerns of social backlash? To what extent may public views differ from private opinion? Do these dynamics vary depending on individual characteristics like political affiliation or social media use? To investigate these questions, we first outline a simple model that formalizes these ideas and helps to frame our study. We highlight how social pressure can affect public opinion either through a change in publicly stated views towards a norm (conformity) or by inducing self-censorship (silence). We then propose to conduct an online survey experiment that allows us to disentangle these two effects and to better understand these social dynamics in the context of two current debates: Gender and LGBTQ issues, and Race.