People conform publicly to beliefs they privately reject

Evidence

Research has consistently revealed that people will often say and do things that they believe to be wrong or misguided—or not say and do things that they feel are appropriate—when they believe that their feel­ ings, beliefs, or preferences are discrepant from those of other people who will be observing and evaluating their behavior. Asch’s (1956) experiments provided some of the most compelling examples of conformity pressure. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 321

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: People deploy biases to feel comfortable about their own conformity — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 1934; People publicly express more or less prejudice than they privately hold.; People can hold mutually exclusive views without believing either — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 2481 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Expression of prejudice diverges from private belief depending on perceived social norms. #expands (0.90) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1906
• People publicly express more or less prejudice than they privately hold. #expands (0.88)
• Obedient public speech can signal compliance without conveying belief #corroborates (0.82) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 165
• Copying others’ opinions rather than criticizing them yields contradictory compartmentalized beliefs #expands (0.78) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1209
• People endorse digressive victimhood claims without believing the principle they invoke #exemplifies (0.78) — Felix Danbold, Ivuoma N. Onyeador, and Miguel M. Unzueta, Dominant groups support digressive…, 69
• Public actions can snowball beliefs, overriding stronger private information #complicates (0.75) — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age, 282
• Conformity prevails when false beliefs carry no personal costs to the believer #qualifies (0.74) — Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall, The Misinformation Age, 306
• People deploy biases to feel comfortable about their own conformity #expands (0.72) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1934
• People can act on trust they cognitively reject by making exceptions for favored individuals #exemplifies (0.72) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 2764
• People can hold mutually exclusive views without believing either #qualifies (0.70) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 2481