Replication Data for: Social Norm Change, Political Symbols, and Expression of Stigmatized Preferences

Public displays of nationalism increased in Spain following the referendum on Catalan independence. We show that this change is due to a change in norms rather than in preferences. Spanish nationalism was stigmatized due to its association with authoritarianism. The referendum generated outgroup threat, giving individuals with nationalist views an incentive to display them. This updated perceptions about the strength of the anti-authoritarian norm, leading to its erosion. We collect a longitudinal dataset of Spanish flags hanging from buildings and combine it with an original survey. Evidence shows that the Catalan crisis increased displays of the Spanish flag and shows that their proliferation follows a pattern of normative change. Flags also worked as a coordination mechanism for normative change: their display rendered them more acceptable and made right-wing individuals more comfortable to approve of Francoism explicitly. Our results highlight the role of social norms as drivers of political behavior.

加泰罗尼亚独立公投后，西班牙境内的民族主义公开展示行为显著增加。本研究证实，此类变化源于社会规范的变迁，而非个体偏好的改变。此前，西班牙民族主义因与威权主义存在关联而饱受污名化。此次公投催生了外群体威胁（outgroup threat），令持有民族主义立场的个体产生了公开表达其立场的动机。这一变化更新了人们对反威权规范强度的认知，最终导致该规范的消解。本研究收集了一组关于建筑悬挂西班牙国旗的纵向数据集（longitudinal dataset），并将其与原创调研数据相结合。实证结果显示，加泰罗尼亚危机推高了西班牙国旗的展示频次，且此类扩散行为契合规范变迁的演化模式。国旗同时充当了规范变迁的协调机制：国旗的展示行为让民族主义立场更具社会接受度，也使得右翼人士更敢于公开表态支持佛朗哥主义（Francoism）。本研究结果凸显了社会规范作为政治行为核心驱动因素的重要作用。