Hypocrisy in a Simple Social Interaction Model

Mikhail Anufriev, Kirill Borisov and Mikhail Pakhnin

No 12700, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: We develop a model of social interaction in which agents hold private beliefs but communicate public statements. We distinguish between two networks: an audience network shaping statements through social pressure, and an influence network governing belief updating. This separation drives a wedge between public statements and underlying beliefs, so that agents may persistently communicate opinions they do not hold. We provide necessary and sufficient network conditions for the emergence of such hypocrisy. The model generates rich patterns of opinion propagation, including the amplification of messages that agents themselves do not believe, and sheds light on phenomena such as propaganda diffusion, the spiral of silence, and political correctness.

Keywords: social learning; network theory; hypocrisy; political correctness; dissonance minimization; propaganda (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 D85 D91 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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