Evaluating the Effect of Descriptive Norms on Political Tolerance

• Published date: 01 November 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X231168347
• Author: Fabian G. Neuner,Mark D. Ramirez
• Date: 01 November 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

American Politics Research

2023, Vol. 51(6) 701–714

© The Author(s) 2023

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DOI: 10.1177/1532673X231168347

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Evaluating the Effect of Descriptive Norms on

Political Tolerance

Fabian G. Neuner

1

and Mark D. Ramirez

1



Abstract

Recent scholarship has documented changing norms toward political tolerance and an increase in intolerant beliefs in the United

States. Descriptive norm theory attributes attitudinal and behavioral changes to beliefs about how we perceive other people

think and act. Applied to political tolerance, increasing the perception that society is more or less tolerant should result in

corresponding changes among individuals. Neglected from this discussion, however, is the distinction between norms that are

applied universally and norms that are applied to specif‌ic targets. Four studies show mixed support for descriptive norm theory

with norms altering individual tolerance judgments mostly when applied universally. Norms aimed at a particularistic group fail

to change tolerance judgments suggesting an important limitation to norm inf‌luence. Contrary to expectations, we uncover a

reversal effect among Democrats whereby exposure to universalistic norms of intolerance leads to higher levels of tolerance.

Keywords

tolerance, norms, public opinion, civil liberties

Conf‌licts over fundamental rights pertaining to speech, as-

sembly, and association have once again shown the fragility

of American democracy. Political tolerance of these rights has

been repeatedly shown to be lacking as many Americans

oppose civil liberties for certain groups (Stouffer, 1955;

Ekins, 2017). Historically, the lack of tolerance has been

attributed to the salience of various threats such as the rise of

communism in the 1950s or the September 11

th

terrorist

attacks (Davis & Silver, 2004;Sullivan et al., 1993). How-

ever, in recent years norms of political tolerance have ap-

peared to decline, particularly among public off‌icials and

political commentators, which could potentially affect per-

ceptions of descriptive norms and ultimately alter public

support for civil liberties. As Schaffner (2020) argues, elites

provide a “normatively desirable model for citizens to fol-

low.”Thus, we argue people’s perceptions of descriptive

norms (i.e., how other people think or act) might be one

mechanism driving greater intolerance, while also having the

potential to nudge people back into more tolerant

positions —shifts which have been elusive in extant research

(see Gibson, 2006).

It has been argued that shifting norms about race have

increased the acceptance of explicitly racial rhetoric, sug-

gesting that such appeals are no longer completely taboo

(Valentino et al., 2018; see also Crandall et al., 2018).

Consistent with this f‌inding, Jackson (2019, 234–235) argues

that norms toward racial prejudice are changing as a result of

increasing social media usage among less educated citizens

who are more susceptible to explicit forms of racial appeals.

This creates an incentive for people to express more explicitly

prejudicial language. Schaffner (2020) shows that exposure

to prejudicial statements by President Trump caused people to

express more offensive views toward racial minorities and

other identity groups (see also Newman et al., 2020). Yet,

Schaffner also f‌inds that portraying Trump supporters as

overtly racist can backf‌ire leading to reductions in overt

expressions of racism. This suggests that exposure to de-

scriptive norms might have a more nuanced relationship with

political attitudes.

Although there is evidence of a link between norms and

racial attitudes, political tolerance applies to a much wider set

of out-groups than race (e.g., religious, political, and cultural

groups). It remains unclear if norms relate to tolerance more

broadly especially given Gibson’s (1998) f‌inding that po-

litical intolerance is a much more stable attitude and largely

resistant to persuasive messaging. Thus, there is still a need to

explore the effect descriptive norms have on tolerance. De-

spite a vast literature on the distribution and etiology of

1

School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ,

USA

Corresponding Author:

Mark D. Ramirez, School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State

University, Coor Hall, Tempe, AZ 85287-3902, USA.

Email: mark.ramirez@asu.edu