Pluralistic ignorance
In social psychology, pluralistic ignorance is a situation in which a majority of group members privately reject a norm, but go along with it because they incorrectly assume that most others accept it. This is also described as "no one believes, but everyone thinks that everyone believes". In short, pluralistic ignorance is a bias about a social group, held by the members of that social group.
Pluralistic ignorance
Pluralistic ignorance has also been blamed for large majorities of the public remaining silent on climate change — while 'solid majorities' of the American and UK public are concerned about climate change, most erroneously believe they are in the minority with their concern. It's been suggested that pollution-intensive industries have contributed to the public's underestimation of public support for climate solutions. For example, in the U.S., support for pollution pricing is high, yet public perception of public support is much lower.