Nhung Nguyen

Key Scholars

Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann

Carroll Glynn

James Shanahan

Seminal Readings

• Noelle-Neumann, E. (1974). The spiral of silence is a theory of public opinion. Journal of

Communication, 24(2), 43-51.

• Noelle-Neumann, E. (1984). The Spiral of Silence: Public Opinion — Our social skin. Chicago: University of Chicago.
• Noelle-Neumann, E. (1991). The theory of public opinion: The concept of the Spiral of Silence. In J. A. Anderson (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 14, 256-287. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
• Glynn, J.C., Hayes, F.A. & Shanahan, J. (1997). “Perceived support for ones’ opinions and willingness to speak out: A meta-analysis of survey studies on the ‘spiral of silence” Public Opinion Quarterly 61 (3): 452-463.
• Gynn, C. J., Hayes, A. F., & Shanahan, J. (1997). Perceived support for one’s opinions and willingness to speak out: A meta-analysis of survey studies on the “spiral of silence.” Public Opinion Quarterly, 61, 452-463.
• Shanahan, J., Glynn, C., & Hayes, A. (2007). The spiral of silence: A meta-analysis and its impact. In R. W. Preiss, B. M. Gayle, N. Burrell, M. Allen, & J. Bryant (Eds.), Mass media effects: Advances through meta-analysis (pp. 415-427). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Key Concepts

Fear of isolation

Spreading opinion- Second opinion

Acceptance

Willing to speak out

Disapproval

Secrecy

Main Premise

• Theory

Spiral of silence is the term meant to refer to the tendency of people to remain silent when they feel that their views are in opposition to the majority view on a subject. The theory posits that they remain silent for a few reasons:

• Fear of isolation when the group or public realizes that the individual has a divergent opinion from the status quo.
• Fear of reprisal or more extreme isolation, in the sense that voicing said opinion might lead to a negative consequence beyond that of mere isolation (loss of a job, status, etc.)

For this theory to be plausible it relies on the idea that in a given situation we all possess a sort of intuitive way of knowing what the prevailing opinion happens to be. The spiral is created or reinforced when someone in the perceived opinion majority speaks out confidently in support of the majority opinion, hence the minority begins to be more and more distanced from a place where they are comfortable to voice their opinion and begin to experience the aforementioned fears.

• The spiral effect is experienced so much as this activates a downward spiral where fears continually build within the minority opinion holder, hence the minority opinion is never voiced.
• The closer an individual feels their opinion resides to the held majority opinion the more likely they are to be willing to voice it in public discourse.
• A few other important tenets to mention: this theory relies heavily on the idea that the opinion must have a distinct moral component (i.e. abortion, legalization of _______ ), no one will experience the spiral of silence trying to talk out what toppings to get on their pizza with roommates.

• Model

The spiral model is used to visually describe the theory. An individual is more likely to go down the spiral if his or her opinion does not conform with the perceived majority opinion.

The following steps summarize how the process works:

• The model begins with individuals’ inherent desire to blend with society. The fear of social isolation is necessary for the spiral to occur.
• Individuals who notice that their personal opinion is spreading will voice this opinion confidently in public. On the other hand, individuals who notice that their opinions are losing ground will be inclined to adopt a more reserved attitude when expressing their opinions in public.
• Representatives of the spreading opinion talk quite a lot while the representatives of the second opinion remain silent. An opinion that is being reinforced in this way appears stronger than it really is, while an opinion suppressed will seem to be weaker than it really is.

⇒ The result is a spiral process that prompts other individuals to perceive the changes in opinion and follow suit until one opinion has become established as the prevailing attitude while the other opinion will be pushed back and rejected by most. The end of the spiral refers to the number of people who are not publicly expressing their opinions, due to the fear of isolation.

Common Methods

Observation

Experiments

Content Analysis

In-depth Interviews

Focus Groups

Surveys

Limitations

• The internet seemingly levels the playing field, where a minority opinion won’t be felt by the individual as a minority opinion and might be voiced in that arena whereas the individual would have not been so vocal in another place of public discourse.
• The vocal minority – you know these people, they may be the only one who thinks that cats need the right to vote, but they won’t shut up about it and are seemingly outside of the effects of the Spiral of Silence.
• Limited in cross-cultural adaptation: U.S. researchers desire a rational explanation for human behavior, but not all behavior can be explained sensibly.
• Criticisms do not acknowledge the influence that people’s communities and reference groups have on their opinions. They believe that this theory focuses too much on the media.
• There is little empirical support for the claim that people speak out only because they perceive support for their views.
• Cultural Application- a culture that a person lives in greatly affects their willingness to speak out.

Developments

• Many of the studies concerning the spiral of silence deal with social media. The most recent studies almost all concern the tendency of others to share opinions on social media platforms, and how those opinions may impact relationships to jobs, family, and other social circumstances.
• Some new research discusses “bots,” or social media accounts that are not run by a human person, or are run by a human person but are active only by tremendous duplication. In other words, bots are generated and are not genuine. Regardless, the discussion is about the impact of bots dissenting against opinion, and how bots begin spirals of silence.
• Much of what should be discussed in the future is the rise of fringe social media accounts, in which those in the minority find themselves together in a small majority, sharing conspiracy theories or fringe political ideologies together. This would show that the spiral of silence might stop if those in the minority find an outlet to share their beliefs unhindered.

Typical Research Questions

• How well are the people willing to speak their voices for vulnerable groups?
• To which extent of being criticized will prevent people from speaking their voices?
• What is the opinion of someone who does not have a voice in the public sphere?
• What impacts of the “fear of isolation” on the will to speak out on one’s opinion?

Source: https://masscommtheory.com/theory-overviews/spiral-of-silence/