- A recent study out of MSU's College of Social Sciences found a decline in people’s desire to stand out from other people over the past twenty years.
- Video shows interview with Lead Author of the study and Associate Professor of Psychology at Michigan State, William Chopik.
- “People’s willingness to defend their beliefs publicly is the lowest its been in twenty years. We’re not exactly sure why, but we’re sure worried about it," said Chopik.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
A recent study out of MSU's College of Social Sciences found a decline in people’s desire to stand out from other people, over the past twenty years.
I spoke with the Lead Author of the study to learn more about why this is happening and what the long-term impacts might be.
“The study was comprised of over 1.3 million people, over the last twenty years," explained William Chopik, Lead Author of the study and Associate Professor of Psychology at Michigan State.
It measured how much people like to stand out, be unique, and defend their beliefs publicly, “People’s willingness to defend their beliefs publicly is the lowest its been in twenty years. We’re not exactly sure why, but we’re sure worried about it," said Chopik.
William Chopik is the lead author of the study and an Associate Professor of Psychology at Michigan State, he says, one possible reason for the decline is the perception among many that their beliefs are not part of the majority opinion,
“If you kind of get into your head and you think 'Oh maybe other people don’t feel same way that I do, or if I said this aloud maybe I’d get in trouble or lose friends'. The irony is that a lot of times we’re misperceiving what other people think."
With such an evolving world of technology, Chopik attributes some of those misconceptions to social media, “Some of it might be caused by the rise of social media, and having this permanent record and accessibility to all your thoughts, and how punitive or punishing it could be."
I took these results to students on MSU's campus, and spoke with MSU Senior, Lauren Rake, who requested to remain off camera, but did validate the study's findings according to her opinion, “It can be overwhelming when a lot of your peers do not think the same way as you."
As for how these results might stretch their impact off campus, Chopik says, if younger adults aren’t as willing to voice their beliefs, "Are we going to miss out on the next best solution to a huge societal change? I hope not, but this gives us a little bit of a concern."
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