From Extreme to Mainstream: The Erosion of Social Norms

Social norms, usually persistent, can unravel quickly when new public information arrives, such as a surprising election outcome. People may become more inclined to express views or take actions previously perceived as stigmatized and may judge others less negatively for doing so. We examine this possibility using two experiments. We first show via revealed preference experiments that Donald Trump's rise in popularity and eventual victory increased individuals' willingness to publicly express xenophobic views. We then show that individuals are sanctioned less negatively if they publicly expressed a xenophobic view in an environment where the view is popular.