Real-World Sanctioning of Stigmatized Political Preferences

A growing body of literature is preoccupied with the role of norms for democratic outcomes. Yet, given the inherent difficulties in observing social sanctions, we lack real-world evidence of whether and how such norms are enforced in daily life. To provide such evidence, we run a field experiment in Madrid where confederates initiate an interaction with randomly selected passers-by. We also randomize whether the confederate wears a neutral (white) t-shirt or a t-shirt of different parties. Results show that passers-by are more likely to avoid interacting with confederates wearing the t-shirt of the far-right party in the country (Vox). The strength of this effect differs depending on the ideology of the area and its interaction with the number of individuals who can observe the inter- action. These results highlight that democratic citizens are often willing to impose costs on those whose political preferences are deemed counter-normative.