Abstract
Self-censorship poses a considerable threat to public discourse as it can undermine keydemocratic processes, such as the wisdom of crowds. While existing conceptualizations of self-censorship use the lens of avoidance (i.e., withholding of one's opinion), we argue people expressself-censorship in several manners: avoidance, aversion to provocation, epistemic uncertainty,and conformity. Across seven studies (N = 4,447), we developed and validated the Expressionsof Self-Censorship scale (ESC), a 16-item measure. Confirmatory factor analyses supported afour-factor structure, suggesting that individuals differ not only in the extent to which they self-censor but also in how they do so. We then examined the predictive validity of the ESC scale intwo novel contexts: i) willingness to share (publicly and anonymously) and edit a controversialopinion (N = 555) and ii) discussing an active unionization campaign among other graduate andprofessional students at a major U.S. university (N = 146). Across both contexts, the ESCpredicted self-censorship-related behaviors, including willingness to share opinions, whether andhow they edited their controversial opinion, and comfort discussing each of these topics acrossdifferent audiences. Further, we found that each of the expressions of self-censorship wereassociated with distinct patterns of behaviors, supporting our claim that self-censorship is notonly the absence of voicing an opinion, but can also be the presence of an ingenuine opinion. Atthe societal level, this work highlights the importance of understanding both the informationwithin public discourse along with those opinions that are modified or withheld.