Sunstein and Thaler had a great term for this in Nudge: "pluralistic ignorance". An important problem here is pluralistic ignorance – that is, ignorance, o

Sunstein and Thaler had a great term for this in Nudge: "pluralistic ignorance". An important problem here is pluralistic ignorance – that is, ignorance, on the part of all or most, about what other people think. We may follow a practice or tradition not because we like it, or even think it defensible, but merely because we think that most other people like it. The book mentions men in Saudi Arabia (I think) who in private supported more freedoms for women but in public expressed the opposite because they thought other men were more conservative when it came to women's rights.