In the tale The Emperor’s New Clothes written by Hans Christian Andersen, two fake weavers created clothes for an Emperor made of the most beautiful colors and patterns. The weavers insisted that those that could not see the clothes were a fool and unfit for their job. None of the townspeople spoke about their doubts about the claim, and everyone began to believe that they couldn’t see the clothing, despite the fact it was clear the clothing didn’t exist.
Have you ever found yourself in a similar position?
Maybe it was with a group of friends – someone is acting less than admirable and no one says anything, because they think everyone else is okay with the actions.
This phenomenon is known as pluralistic ignorance. This occurs when members of a group personally don’t agree with a group norm, but publicly support them with assumptions that other group members accept them.
“No one believes, but everyone believes that everyone else believes.”
Pluralistic ignorance was forged by an anthropologist that went to the Southwest and studied a cult with rigid social mores – no music, dancing, drinking, or merry-making.
This anthropologist lived with each of the 20 or so different families, befriending them. After getting close to families, they would take him into their basements and eventually show him an instrument, a bar, while going down there in secret to drink and dance as a family.
All of these families were doing the same thing, but none of them knew that the other families were doing it because if they did, the mores would change!
In working with dozens of organizations, it is amazing how often organizations have pluralistic ignorance going on, but no one is aware of it.
The first step is being aware. Ask questions, and stick to your gut.
