Research Indicates People Less Willing to Stand Out or Voice Opinions: Are there longer term consequences?

What might happen if we stopped sharing our beliefs and people went silent. Imagine a moment if public conversation went to a stop and people were blocked out from actively engaging in decision or sharing their ideas. Not because they do or do not want to share but that they simply don't want to stand out or have their own voice in public conversation? A study called Changes in Need for Uniqueness From 2000 Until 2020 brought forward the idea that people are becoming increasingly less likely to express themselves, stand out, defend their beliefs and are increasingly concerned about fitting in.

Abstract:

"Recent research and polling suggest that people may be more reluctant to express themselves and stand out than in previous years, but few studies have examined such societal trends in a systematic way. We examined changes in need for uniqueness among 1,339,160 Internet respondents (Mage = 21.09, SD = 9.69; 65.8% women) from 2000 and 2020. Across the 20-year period, participants who completed the survey more recently reported a lower need for uniqueness, particularly in terms of not wanting to defend their beliefs in public forums and caring more about what others think about them. Results are discussed in the context of possible causes of changes in uniqueness desires and the possible societal implications."

The study does raise some concerns that maybe there could be a long term consequence if bullying and public aggression becomes increasingly common. That would mean less diversity in thought, less innovation, less inputs on decision making, and ultimately that could lead to long-term decline as certain democratic institutions no longer hear the voices of the general will (even if it is perceptual). It would mean that more and more voice is being concentrated into fewer hands. 

I don't blame people for feeling its best to zip their lips on their values and beliefs because we do have to watch what we say because of the extreme polarization of ideas and the willingness to use online/offline bullying to silence people, damage careers, in some cases threats, and generally force people into accepting single (often not logical) narratives. Bullying mixed with lack of adequate reinforcement of those freedoms could lead to a decline in overall public debate and create a decision making risk. Group think can often lead to a major mistake because decision makers didn't understand the environment because nor listen to all the voices (or in this cases those voices go increasingly silent.)

(I conducted a thought experiment once on freedom of religion and freedom of speech and the modeling didn't turn out that well. Freedom of speech was silenced, systems defaulted, and correction had to come organically from an angry public and from the outside to fix. Some officials intentionally rewarded illegal and manipulative behaviors to ensure that in-group members were the beneficiaries of public systems at the expense of victims, minorities, the vulnerable and out-group members. The results were spotty and mixed but it did highlight risks of deeper and surface perceptions of those values that bind society together. When it comes to the upholding our democracy and the purpose of the law the results were skewed.  As a modeling example it is based on specific extreme characteristics that may not be completely exportable but appears relevant in minor form to a significant percentage of people. It could partially explain contributing factors of decline in institutional trust as ideologies impact outcomes. 2024 Gallop Poll on Institutional Trust. The lesson that could be drawn from the theoretical example is that we must do a much better job of restoring by acting for the benefit of all people/community and ensure we are not skewing for certain groups/clans/parties/etc..)

We can project our thoughts on the research all we want but one would need to study why they are expressing those opinions and what their motivations might be. If we knew that we can start drawing a few preliminary conclusions and perhaps find some solutions and/or reaffirm our commitment to certain ideals that seem to be under risk. Sometimes just being aware of trends might be enough while at other times awareness isn't going to make a dent if people have to make tough choices between self gain and societal gain. It is up to each of us to be civil, kind, and live by the values we profess. Even if other do not respect them. 

When it comes to freedom of speech there is no political side....just the American side (as defined by our social contracts). Does it still matter?

Chopik, W. et. al. (2024) Changes in Need for Uniqueness From 2000 Until 2020. Collabra: Psychology (2024) 10 (1): 121937. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.121937

Gallup (2024) Confidence in Institutions. https://news.gallup.com/poll/1597/confidence-institutions.aspx