We consider the determinants and consequences of a source of utility that has received limited attention from economists: people's desire for the beliefs of other people to align with their own. We relate this ‘preference for belief consonance' to a variety of other constructs that have been...

This paper develops a theory of social norms of beliefs and opinions, which provides an account of political correctness and the backlash against it. Social norms about opinion expression emerge as equilibria of a signaling game in which expressing an unpopular opinion leads to bad judgments...