Spiral Of Silence

Spiral of silence 1 The 'spiral of silence' is a political science and mass communication theory propounded by the Germany|German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann. Spiral of silence theory describes the process by which one opinion becomes dominant as those who perceive their opinion to be in the minority do not speak up because society threatens individuals with fear of isolation. The assessment of one's social environment may not always be correct with reality.

Spiral of silence - Background 1 The spiral of silence occurs on a macro level if more and more members of the perceived minority fall silent

Spiral of silence - What is public opinion 1 If this quote from Noelle-Neumann is applicable, it is more than necessary to provide a definition of public opinion or the spiral of silence theory would be stated as a process by which something indefinable is spread

Spiral of silence - Threat of isolation 1 Spiral of silence begins with the threat of isolation. In order to maintain structure in society, a collective cohesion of its members must be constantly ensured by a sufficient level of agreement on values and goals. Thus, in order to guarantee agreement and maintain social order, society threatens isolation for those individuals who violate the consensus. People also remain silent for fear of rejection by peers and unwanted publicity the media can bring upon them.

Spiral of silence - Fear of isolation 1 The fear of isolation is the centrifugal force that accelerates the spiral of silence. Essentially, people fear becoming social isolates and thus take measures to avoid such a consequence. This assumption was primarily based on early experiments in conformity. People feel more comfortable by agreeing with opinions that they know are wrong instead of telling others their ideas.

Spiral of silence - Quasi-statistical sense 1 Even if people are incorrect in their judgements of certain sides the public takes on a topic the spiral of silence narrows perceptions instead of facts to come to a final general public response, view, and take on a subject.

Spiral of silence - Pluralistic Ignorance 1 Further, Noelle-Neumann describes the spiral of silence as a Positive feedback|dynamic process, in which predictions about public opinion become fact as mass media's coverage of the Majoritarianism|majority opinion becomes the status quo, and the minority becomes less likely to speak out. The theory, however, only applies to moral or opinion issues, not issues that can be proven right or wrong using facts (if there, in fact, exists a Fact-value distinction|distinction between fact and value)

Spiral of silence - Three necessary conditions 1 There are three necessary conditions for when the spiral of silence can occur.

Spiral of silence - Current research 1 The spiral of silence tends to be the outcome of something controversial and political in nature

Spiral of silence - Cross cultural studies 1 There has been little research done to show the impact of cultural variation on an individual's likeliness to speak out in terms of the Spiral of Silence. However, recent improvements in this field have been shown.

Spiral of silence - The United States and Taiwan 1 This suggested that the Spiral of Silence is less likely to be activated in the United States, because individuals are more likely to put emphasis on their personal goals

Spiral of silence - The United States and Taiwan 1 In Taiwan, future support and belief of society played a large role in likeliness to voice an opinion, and support that the activation of the Spiral of Silence is in effect

Spiral of silence - Basque nationalism 1 Basque Nationalism and the Spiral of Silence is an article by Spencer and Croucher that analyzes the public perception of ETA in Spain and France. The Basque nation is an ethno-linguistic minority group that is not entirely embraced as part of the Spanish nation. ETA is a group that preaches a violent resistance to everything Spanish, and is greatly known for acts of terrorism.

Spiral of silence - Basque nationalism 1 The results supported the theory of the Spiral of Silence. While there was highly unfavorable opinion of the violent group, there was a lack of an outcry to stop it. Individuals claimed that they were more likely to voice their opinions to non-Basques, suggesting that they have a fear of isolation in regards to fellow Basques. Furthermore, the Spanish individuals questioned were more likely to be silent because of their greater proximity to the violent acts.

Spiral of silence - Basque nationalism 1 Both studies found some support for the Spiral of Silence, yet both studies had flaws, such as sample size of convenience and lack of sufficient support. More research needs to be conducted to fully understand how cultural variations affect people's willingness to speak out. Spencer and Croucher suggest long, in-depth interviews with respondents to fully understand their personalities, motives and full opinions about such issues.

Spiral of silence - Perceptions in the classroom 1 This research proved that there is a Spiral of Silence that occurs within the classroom

Spiral of silence - Isolating the factors that remove isolation 1 The medium of the Internet has the power to free people from the fear of social isolation, and in doing so, shuts down the spiral of silence

Spiral of silence - Online versus offline 1 Another reason for why the Spiral of Silence theory has less of an effect online could be that studies do not acknowledge whether the person is more likely to speak out against dominant views offline as well

Spiral of silence - Heterogeneity and anonymity 1 The crux of the spiral of silence is that people believe consciously or subconsciously that the expression of unpopular opinions will lead to negative repercussions

Spiral of silence - Equality 1 Further research is needed to test that hypothesis, but if proven, it will show that the spiral of silence cannot exist within the medium of the Internet.

Spiral of silence - Criticisms 1 The critics of this theory most often claim that individuals have different influences that affect whether they speak out or not. Critics believe that there are three potential influences besides the fear of isolation that could cause the spiral of silence.

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