Essay On Spiral Of Silence

In 1974 German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann introduced the Spiral of Silence theory. The 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 (“Spiral of Silence,” n.d.,¶ 2). Neumann (1974) introduced the Spiral of Silence as an attempt to explain in part how public opinion is formed (Griffin, 2002, p. 373). She wondered why the Germans supported wrong political positions that led to national defeat, humiliation and ruin in 1930’s-1940s (Griffin, 2002, p. 373). The theory posits that individuals remain silent for a few reasons. One reason being the fear of isolation, when the group or public realizes that the individual has a divergent opinion from the status quo (“What is the Spiral of Silence?,” n.d., ¶2). The second reason being the fear of reprisal, in the sense that voicing said opinion might lead to a negative consequence beyond that of mere isolation, for example loss of a job (“What is the Spiral of Silence?,” n.d., ¶2). 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 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 (Griffin, 2002, p. 375). This is why the minority begins to be more and more distanced from a place where they are comfortable to voice their opinion and begin to experience fear. The closer a person believes the opinion held is similar to the prevailing public opinion, the mo...

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...fear of rejection to express their opinion or views. They know what behaviors will make better likelihood. Being the part of the minority, people lose their confidence and silent or mute their views because of the fear of isolation or they just feel alone or unsupported. Sometimes the minorities will withdraw their expressed opinion from public debates to secure themselves from the majority. This is how I feel the Spiral of Silence theory applies to my real life story.
The spiral of silence theory reflects a fundamental social psychology of individual’s cognition and behaviors. Human beings are fearful of being isolated, ignored, and excluded. Public opinion is not always as powerful as Neumann described. Many people conform to public opinions because of fear of isolation. They will not express their opinions when they perceive them as the minority opinion.