Schmandt, Konstantin (2024) Context Matters: A Comparative Study of Self-Censorship Motivations in Personal and Professional Settings. Research Master thesis, Research Master.
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Abstract
Self-censorship, defined as the deliberate withholding of one’s true opinion in the presence of a disagreeing audience, challenges democratic ideals based on the exchange of diverse political perspectives. While self-censorship is recognized, knowledge about its specific motivations in concrete social situations remains limited. Employing an experimental survey design (N = 196) with a U.S. sample, we tested whether the primary reasons behind self-censorship, focusing on instrumental (self-oriented concerns) and social motives (other-oriented concerns), differ in personal versus professional social contexts. Participants were exposed to hypothetical scenarios positioning them with a contrary opinion against a group consensus on the controversial issue of immigration. As expected, instrumental motives were more strongly activated in professional contexts. However, contrary to our expectations, social motives were also more strongly activated in professional settings. In line with these findings, individuals were more inclined to self-censor in professional settings, and self-censorship motives were positively related to individuals’ self-censorship tendencies. Indeed, a mediation-by-motives analysis suggests that self-censorship responses in social contexts are primarily influenced by the relative activation of self-censorship motives, which are stronger in professional settings. Efforts to mitigate self-censorship should focus on addressing and reducing individuals’ motives in these situations. Together, these findings underscore the importance of understanding self-censorship within the specific context in which it occurs.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Research Master) |
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| Supervisor name: | Zomeren, M. van |
| Degree programme: | Research Master |
| Differentiation route: | Sustainability in a Changing Society [Research Master] |
| Date Deposited: | 07 Aug 2024 07:58 |
| Last Modified: | 07 Aug 2024 07:58 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4238 |
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