Nearly 90 percent of respondents to a study on two college campuses said they’d pretended to be more progressive than they really were to increase their odds of social or academic success.
Researchers Forest Romm and Kevin Waldman published an opinion piece for The Hill headlined, “Performative virtue-signaling has become a threat to higher ed” about how students have had to adapt to the left-wing climate of campuses to the point where they effectively camouflage against the liberal herd. Their study, done between 2023 and 2025, conducted 1,452 confidential interviews with undergraduates at both Northwestern University and the University of Michigan.
A resounding 88 percent of respondents replied “yes” to the question, “Have you ever pretended to hold more progressive views than you truly endorse to succeed socially or academically?”
“These students were not cynical, but adaptive,” the researchers said. “In a campus environment where grades, leadership, and peer belonging often hinge on fluency in performative morality, young adults quickly learn to rehearse what is safe.”
