Open Minds, Closed Discourse: Dynamics of Openmindedness and Speech Suppression on Campus

The views expressed below are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the SNF Agora Institute or Johns Hopkins University.

Authors: Andrew J. Perrin, Emily J. Calderone, Jessica Caterson

How open-minded are college students, and to what extent does their openmindedness affect willingness to use repressive tactics to oppose ideas they object to? This study examines attitudes towards free speech and expression on a selective, private university campus, focusing on whether and when students are willing to endorse aggressive tactics to oppose viewpoints they deem objectionable. Using novel survey data from undergraduate students, we investigate students’ self-identified openmindedness compared to their willingness to endorse repressive actions such as disrupting speech or asking for the dismissal of faculty who hold viewpoints with which they disagree. While students often identified themselves as being generally open-minded and open to listening to disagreement, we found that many students also demonstrated a high willingness to use repressive techniques to silence the opinions that they disagree with. Furthermore, our analysis revealed that students with more left-leaning views (defined as more governmental support for marginalized groups and progressive positions on structural inequality) were more likely than conservative students to support such tactics. Our findings highlight the complexities of speech suppression and cancel culture on college campuses, calling for further examination of students’ motivations that drive their attitudes and behaviors in such an environment.