This paper discusses related types of social misperception and their implications for the dynamics of normative change. The proposed theory of information management predicts structured inference, where members' beliefs about group compliance levels are conditioned by their social ties. It also predicts pluralistic ignorance, where members publicly promote norms while overestimating others' private adherence to those norms. These predictions are evaluated in a field study of perceived compliance to group norms in five vegetarian housing cooperatives.
Results fail to support the intrinsic bias argument and support the proposed theory.
Also, by locating this structural effect only in large groups that facilitate private conversation, findings highlight selective information exchange as a key mechanism for social misperception and, ultimately, the persistence of unpopular norms in groups.