Why does it feel like people cannot be critical about a certain course or student life for the betterment of everyone?

Hello and thank you for your interesting question. 

If I understand your question correctly, you feel that people around you do not say what they really think—that you don’t experience people being honest about the problems they see, but instead talk as if everything is already perfect. In that case, I can imagine several different psychological reasons why someone might not always express their opinion in every situation. 

Common reasons include fear of creating conflict and facing pushback. Many people find conflicts difficult, and “losing” a conflict can feel tough. Evolutionarily, this is based on a fear of being excluded and left out by the group. So being “smooth” and “compliant” is, in a way, a survival mechanism. 

Similarly, people may be afraid of hurting someone or creating a bad atmosphere for the rest of the group. The same factors are probably at play here as with fear of conflict. 

In most cases, things seem much bigger in our thoughts than in real life, which makes it even harder to express our opinions. That said, there can certainly be situations where the fear of consequences or reprisals is real and significant. 

It is also often positively reinforced by the environment to be “kind and compliant,” which makes it even harder to go against the grain. 

Sometimes an “acquiescent” or “silent” group culture can form within a group—perhaps because of the group’s composition, how well members know each other, what the leadership is like, how meetings are structured, and so on. Breaking such a culture of silence requires even more from the individual. 

We humans differ, and different people feel that different opinions are more or less important to share. Perhaps something you feel is important isn’t nearly as important to someone else in the group, and vice versa. This means that you might feel others who are silent should say something, while they themselves don’t feel there’s a need. Opinions are just that—opinions—and they don’t always align. 

I hope this gives you some answers to your questions. 

Kind regards, 

Lic. Psychotherapist/ Student Health Counselor