blog #9 EOTO Spiral of Silence

 Spiral of silence….what does this mean?  How does it affect society?  Let’s dig deeper.  Believe it or not, it’s a fairly new theory, evolving in the 1970’s and proposed by the researcher Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann.  

    Let’s face it, most people are petrified of social isolation. We are always observing other people’s behaviors to see the public’s reaction of acceptance or rejection.  In other words…what is the majority’s opinion? When an individual feels that their opinion is widely accepted, he or she is

 confident and is likely to feel more comfortable in voicing his or her opinion publicly. People typically assess the community’s opinion prior to presenting their own.

   However, what happens to the individuals with the minority opinions? These individuals will fear isolation and will be silent because of the fright of the negative consequences that could ensue. This fear could result in a negative effect on the person’s personality, such as depression.   Furthermore, a negative outcome resulting from voicing a minority opinion could be loss of a job, loss of a public position, or even a job demotion.  The fear of isolation is due to people having fear of rejection. These people feel more distanced because they feel that their point of view is not believed by many. In addition, they feel unsupported and even alone. The minority eventually becomes silent and isolated. People fear criticism, taunting, even laughter.  Pretty much any sign of disapproval causes fear. Therefore, the sense of being alone is reinforced, and the spiraling process begins.  This group will become increasingly silent while the other class becomes louder and more confident.

   How does this concept affect society?  Are there any positive implications?  What about negative involvement? In simple terms, it’s kind of like a “2 faced behavior”. This theory affects society because momentum is gathered when the majority speaks out.  This results in fewer divergent opinions. Public opinion controls society because the spirals of silence usually go silent against the majority. There are negative implications because not all people are truly voicing their opinions. In other words, the world won’t hear these voices.  The motivation for the minority is lost and it can be discouraging that there aren’t diverse opinions, resulting in a gradual downward spiraling effect. This silenced group becomes the losing side, hence the name “spiral of silence”.

     This theory greatly affects different segments of society.  For example, let’s use socio-economic classes to explain further.  The rich people tend to have their voices heard more loudly because of their position in society. The poor people already feel unwanted, scared, and rejected; therefore, they will be more afraid to voice a different opinion for fear of further isolation. Let’s look at other examples. The gay/straight population is a perfect example.  Even though times are changing and homosexuality is becoming more tolerated in society, it is still not considered the norm. Many homosexuals hide their sexual preference for fear of retribution, causing a spiraling of silencing. Of course, the straight population is the majority, resulting in people feeling confident and comfortable to voice their opinions. 

     Of course, this theory affects all of us, from our family to our friends. What is the number one influencer for public opinion? You guessed it, it’s the mass media!  Unfortunately, the media can create preconceived notions in our minds that become the majority opinion. This results in people being fearful of being rejected by the public and not further speaking out if their opinions are not accepted by the majority. Furthermore, this affects how we use social media platforms. A lot of users do not post their opinions for fear of isolation and rejection.

     There you have it, the spiral of silence!