Spiral of Silence Theory Elisabeth Noelle Neuman 1974 What is the goal purpose of SST To predict how perceived public opinion can influence individual opinion expression To explain how a dominant public opinion develops based on people s perceptions of what others think What assumptions guide SST Society threatens deviant individuals with isolation fear of isolation is pervasive o The threat of isolation holds power on those who don t conform o When people agree on a common set of values fear of isolation decreases o Solomon Asch s conduction of studies o Noelle Neuman conducted a more realistic study with the assessing of moral convictions gay rights abortion human cloning etc This fear of isolation causes individuals to try to assess the climate of opinion at o Individuals receive information through personal observation and the all times media o A quasi statistical ability to evaluate public opinion Quasi statistical sense Quasi statistical organ Listening to others and incorporating their views This is an unconscious process o Personal observations can be distorted or inaccurate Pluralistic ignorance People have mistaken observations o People rely on the media seek out media to confirm disconfirm their views Public behavior is affected by public opinion assessment o If individuals sense support for a topic they are more likely to communicate o If there isn t support they will remain silent What are SST s concepts public opinion the silent minority the hard core a quasi statistical sense pluralistic ignorance dual climate of opinion ubiquity cumulativeness consonance etc Public Opinion attitudes or behaviors one must express in public if one is not to isolate oneself o Public 3 areas Public space a public area Concerns of the other individual a public duty The socio psychological public in the public eye o Opinion the level of agreement between individuals expression of attitude The silent minority those who have differing opinions than the majority and since they have a fear of isolation they remain silent The hard core the minority that voices their opinions regardless if it differs from the majority o These are the ones that create social change o When the silent minority rises up o EX those who fought for gays rights they were once the minority but now that they have voiced their opinion they created change and can be considered a majority now Quasi statistical sense people are able to estimate the strength of opposing sides in a public debate o We assess what the public opinion is we try to gain data to support our view point through the media o Individuals have the ability to measure what opinions should hold a dominant place in their immediate circle Pluralistic Ignorance mixing one s own direct perceptions and the perceptions that are provided by the media o People can misinterpret the opinions that have a dominant place in a larger social context influenced by the surrounding area o Mistakenly believing people think the same way we do Dual Climate of Opinion the climate that the population perceives directly and the climate the media reports o The national public opinion and your own public opinion o The interplay between your own opinions the immediate context and the larger social context Ubiquity refers to the fact that the media are universal sources of information the media is everywhere and they are relied on to provide information Cumulativeness the media is constantly repeating itself overtime you can hear information about an event in the morning afternoon and again at night Consonance the media holds similar beliefs attitudes and values news people confirm their own thoughts and opinions Fear of Isolation and the Solomon Asch studies Fear of Isolation the fear individuals have of having a differing opinion than the majority this fear leads to silence Solomon Asch a socio psychologist o He performed the line test o Came to the conclusion that individuals feel pressure to agree with others even if those people are incorrect What is the explanation in the theory In other words how does the spiral of silence work The factors that play in the spiral of silence willingness to speak out quasi statistical sense majority view and silent minority When people hold the majority opinion they have a willingness to speak out A quasi statistical sense estimates those opinions to determine which is the majority vs minority view o Those who are the majority will voice their opinions Those who are the minority will remain silent unless they are the hard core What role does the media play in the spiral of silence Much of the population will adjust their views to fit accordingly with the media Media is considered a one sided conversation they provide the force for SST Provides the words and phrases so people are educated about the topic TV is most influential Internet is now holding an important place too The public is given a limited view its narrowed on an individual s perception Ubiquity cumulativeness and consonance o This allows for the majority opinion to be heard Dual Climate of Opinion people experience the climate of public opinion through the media How does SST test its explanations What is the train test How is it used The Train Test was an assessment of the extent to which people will speak their opinion Asks the question suppose you have a 5 hour train ride ahead of you and a person sits next to you and starts to discuss the problems of food safety Would you talk or not talk about the topic to the person The test revealed that o Supporters of a dominant opinion are more likely to speak up o People refrain from publicly stating their opinions due to fear of isolation o People share their opinions with those are more likely to agree with them o People may change their opinion last minute to fit the majority opinion What is the evaluation of SST Positives heurism Negatives logical consistency fear of isolation is not tested overemphasis on media influence How does SST define communication Cognition thought and perception Human to human What are Noelle Neumann s metatheoretical assumptions Ontological humans don t make real choices the context doesn t matter and it s an individual experience o Individual experience because its an individual response Epistemological observations empiricism Axiological value free no social change Face Negotiation Theory Stella Ting Toomey 1988 To explain how members of different cultures manage conflict Goal Purpose of FNT Assumptions
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