There are many concerns about self-censorship on college campuses, including that conservative voices are being stifled. Using survey data from an elite private college, we show that self-censorship is not simply about being conservative: it is students with the most moderate views who self-censor the most. This trend is associated with confidence and importance: students who are more confident in their opinions or who view an issue as particularly important tend to have more extreme opinions and self-censor less. At the same time, conservatives self-censor at higher rates than liberals, and the same individual is more likely to self-censor on views for which he or she is relatively more conservative than on those for which he or she is relatively more liberal; conservatives are also much more likely than liberals to cite concerns about social exclusion as a reason for self-censorship, and report less self-censorship outside the academic community. Groups perceived as marginalized self-censor less than majority groups, particularly on issues that concern them (e.g., Black students on BLM).
This comes from a new NBER working paper authored by
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