The phrase "are less salient" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe something that is not as noticeable or prominent in a given context.
Example: "In this study, the factors that influence decision-making are less salient than previously thought."
Alternatives: "are less prominent" or "are less noticeable".
Thus, for helpless children, successes are less salient, less predictive, and less enduring--less successful.
These strengths often give rise to the next great industry, even when the strengths are less salient than the country's problems.
But fees based on late payments and overdrafts are less salient, even to highly educated, well-informed customers, for three reasons: First, the variety of fees paid under different circumstances makes it hard to comparison shop.
With increasingly global, diverse energy markets, however, and increasingly transnational problems resulting from energy transformation and use, old energy security rationales are less salient, and other issues, including climate change and other environmental, economic, and international considerations are becoming increasingly important.
Other center regions are less salient than the saliency support region.
There is no doubt that war and peace issues are less salient now, relative to economic issues.
But perhaps anger over Iraq is less salient politically than fear about terrorism.
Once the nation's political priority, health as an issue is less salient than it has been in 20 years.
Arguably, the jobs issue is less salient in Iowa, where the unemployment rate is a relatively low 5.7 percent.
The effect of real wealth and inequality on contributions and punishment is less salient, possibly due to real wealth not being discernible in the experimental context.
In regular, chessboard-like patterns of different coloured items, the effect of the early vision was less salient than in the case of structures with randomly dispersed colours.
