Imagine you and some other people are sitting around at dinner talking about a movie you had just seen. You don't know these people all that well so you've just been listening to the conversation. You loved the movie, but they all keep talking about how much they hated it. You can't understand why, but don't want to express your views in front of all of them. Later you start talking to one of the other people at dinner and learn that they too liked the movie. This failure of the minority to express their views is what the theory Spiral of Silence, by Elisabeth Noelle-Newman, is all about. You and your friend didn't want to express your views because of fear of isolation and even ridicule by the other members of the group.
We have all been in this situation at one time or another where we are afraid to express our views. I will hit on a few key points that define the theory by Noelle-Newman.
Fear of Isolation
This is the centrifugal force that accelerates the spiral of silence. People want to be identified with a winner and therefore conform to the majority's beliefs. The scenario above is a good example of this. The last thing that people want is to be isolated from a group. I agree with this point, but there are exceptions though. A couple years ago a great example of this was brought to light. The Branch Davidians led by David Koresh were definitely a minority and they were heard through their coverage in the media. There are also many other cults and military groups still out there as we speak. An even bigger example of a minority is the KKK. They have thousands of members nationwide. People are drawn to these groups because of fear of isolation, but as I have shown you, they are not always silent. I agree with this point to an extent, but there are too many dissenting groups to make it perfectly valid.
A Time to Speak and a Time to Keep Silent
This aspect is centered around public opinion. When your views are in favor you tend to speak out. When your views drop out of favor you will tend to keep silent. Although there are still exceptions to this concept I agree with it more than the first one. For example, I love the Cleveland Indians and have gone to at least a game every year since I was ten. When they were terrible, before 1994, I had a hat but barely ever wore it or told people I was a huge fan. Now that they are perennial playoff contenders I wear my hat and tell people how much I like them. I didn't just jump on the bandwagon, but I know that there was a bunch of people who did.
The train/plane test, which uses the idea that if a random person sat down next to you and started talking about for example, abortion, would you want to talk to this person. It brings up some good reasons why people speak out in certain situations and not in others.
The Powerful Role of the Mass Media
Noelle-Newman believed that the media accelerates the muting of the minority in the spiral of silence. I completely agree with this. The media, whether news, print, or electronic is the biggest influence in our lives today. Who would have ever thought that after going through two scandals, one where he cheated on his wife, that Bill Clinton's popularity would have risen. It's hard to believe, but that's what the media has shown us and it makes people think and eventually start to second guess their opinions. According to Noelle-Newman the media not only tell us what to think about, but show us what everyone else is thinking.
Overall this theory is very useful. I think it's so useful mainly because it was updated by Noelle-Newman in 1991. Other than the few obvious exceptions, the concepts of this theory seem to hold true. I think this is a very useful Humanistic Theory.
Click here to see a webpage about Noelle-Newman
Click here to go back to the Spiral of Silence Title Page