The Spiral of Silence and Public Opinion
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to define the context of Spiral of Silence and to identify the theorist who created the theory. In addition, this paper endeavors to inform the reader about the theory and the theorist professional background without abandoning the fundamental argument about the necessity of expressing opinions. For decades, mass communication scholars battled amongst each other in order to prove the validity of the theory. Vast amounts of research about the occurrence of the so-called spiral phenomena were carried out by dedicated mass media scholars who are very determined to make Spiral of Silence a part of the mass media realm.
This identity crisis of communications as a field and particularly its media effects research certainly contributed to the early awareness that the spiral of silence received among communication scholars (Donsbach, Salmon and Tsfati, 2014; p. 10).
Having the ability to express one’s opinion is a matter of importance in the society. It allows people of belonging to different races to communicate with each other to express themselves and their views about a particular topic. Communication is one primary necessity in human’s life and granted the humans are the only species in the animal kingdom who can speak their opinions; it is much wiser to exercise that right than of course letting it hidden in silence. Silence is like a cancer grows as Simon and Garfunkel noted in their song. The importance of sharing and expressing one’s self amidst the disapproval of the majority is the main reason why Neumann developed the Spiral of Silence and as a carte blanche, this paper will also explain the occurring Spiral of Silence in the modern day society as the means of expressing one’s opinions become very much diverse and rapid.
The Theorist: Elisabeth Noelle-von Neumann Elisabeth Noelle-von Neumann passed away on March 25, 2010 at the age of 93. Her death ended in a highly visible career as a social scientist, entrepreneur, journalist and a political consultant (Donsbach, Salmon and Tsfati, 2014; p. 1).
Elisabeth Noelle von Neumann a German political adviser and a media researcher who developed the Spiral of Silence. Upon her death on 2010, her career as a media scholar and social scientist was highly praised not only in her native country, but internationally as well. Aside from being a media scholar, Neumann was also an adept entrepreneur. Despite numerous awards gained, Neumann still studied the communication of the human society. Neumann was born in 1916 just a few years after the Titanic sank deep into the Atlantic Ocean. When she grew up, she attended several academies in Berlin before gaining admission to one of the most elite schools in the country; Schule Schloss in Salem which is located in the Bodensee District of Southern Germany.
During the Nazi occupation in Germany, she became a journalist for the Das Reich newspaper in 1940 and wrote an article about the American media being dominated by Jewish syndicate. When she met Erich Peter Neumann they founded together the most prestigious and well-respected polling and research institutions: The Institute fur Demoskopie Allensbach, a German marketing and research firm established in 1947. In addition to her achievements, she also held a permanent position as a professor at the University of Mainz starting from 1964 up until 1983. From the year 1978 and 1980 she was elected to become the president of World Association for Public Opinion and Research. Additionally, she also served as a consultant and guest speaker at the Chicago University until 1991.
The Spiral of Silence
Moving forward, The Spiral of Silence is a theory of Mass Communication. According to Neumann, the theory is all about public opinion. Originally, it focuses on how public opinions are created by people and how the fear of isolation affects the people’s mind in expressing their thoughts in public. Neumann used this theory to explain the 1930-1940’s political aggregation wherein German people supported a wrong political positions that eventually led Germany to its ruins. This theory is relatively useful in terms of Communication Studies in the field of Mass Media. This allows researchers to determine the percentage of how many people are bold enough to discuss their views in front of the society versus the percentage of those people who are constantly changing their views prior to the resulting dominant opinion (Glynn, Hayes and Shanahan, 1997). In short, this theory tackles the perceived ‘identity crises’ of most people when they feel that their opinion is not the same as to what the majority is saying. At times, these people may change their opinion or worse, they may not express their thoughts at all for the fear of becoming publicly isolated primarily because they simply cannot relate to the topic.
Neumann described mass media as ubiquitous and consonant, and media content as reflecting the political leanings of journalists who, as a group, were more liberal than the average citizen (Donsbach, Salmon and Tsfati, 2014; p. 11). One of the greatest fears of human is being isolated from the rest. In psychology, if a person is thereby isolated from the rest, he or she might experience emotional stress and sense of worthlessness (Comstock and Scharrer, 2005). In addition, being isolated is similar to being left alone amidst the sea of people. Social isolation must not be confused with loneliness as this refers to the emotional state of a human being. Likewise, social isolation might result in depression, loneliness and above all the person might feel the sense of worthlessness. In short, social isolation results to low self-esteem.
Hence, to avoid being isolated most people refuse to voice out their opinions in public, not until they have confirmed that their views is congruent to the views of the majority. Neumann once stated that people are generally perceptive in nature. Like animals, humans use their ‘quasi-statistical organ’ or commonly known as the ‘sixth sense’ in order to recognize the dominant opinion in the society. Because of the technological revolution of the 20th century, sharing opinions with others are easily made through the presence of radios, television and internet. The wide array of mass mediums highly contribute on influencing other people’s philosophy in life. The view of the majority is the view of the society whilst the view of the minority is the view of no one. Spiral of Silence can be observed in the American history wherein the opinion of the White people reign supreme over the opinions of the Black American (Baran and Davis, 2012). This is due to the racial discrimination prevalent at that time. Blacks are less willing to express their opinions especially in public to avoid humiliation. The Spiral of Silence Effect can be also seen in the 1948 Presidential Election wherein Harry S. Truman defeated all of his political opponents (see figure 1).
In contrast to the predictions, it has been declared that Dewey will eventually defeat the incumbent Truman out of his office. Because of Truman’s re-election, this particular event in the American history became an additional evidence in bringing up the debate against public opinion. The embarrassment of Truman’s victory led many scholars such as Noelle-Neumann to question the integrity of polling clinics in terms of presenting collected data. Additionally, Truman’s winning victory became the longest in the history of the Democrats since this victory allowed the party to capture the remaining political seats. Moreover, perhaps one of the most important ingredient for Truman’s success is his extensive use of trains to spread his political campaign. Compared to the haughty Dewey, Truman definitely succeeded in understanding the problems of an average voter and his use of train as a mode of transport and for political campaign stripped the voters’ doubts of his pretense in order to gain the vote of majority. Meanwhile in the Philippines, movements to counteract the Spiral of Silence are seen by Filipinos. Over the years, the Marcos Administration took control of the media mayhem and the state governance (Gonzalez, 2006). People are continuously bombarded by the positive messages about the Marcos government. However, mass media scholars and journalists developed another way of reversing the ‘spiral effect’ by producing pamphlets published by groups of independent journalists working outside the grasp of the Marcos domain (Gonzalez, 2006). The modern day use of social networking such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter; the spread of information continues to create a drastic change in the behavior of a person. This can result into a different personality affecting the way how they think, feel and above all express themselves. However, the creation of the social networking allowed many people to express their opinions publicly to the point of redundancy. The social media grants immense powers to those people who cannot express their opinions in person for the fear of being rejected by the majority, or worse being isolated from the society (Baran and Davis, 2012). One can assume a different personality in the social media by creating meme to express their disgust over a prevailing issue in the society without directly exposing themselves.
References
Baran, S., & Davis, D. (2012). Mass Communication Theory: Foundations Ferment, and Future (6th Ed.). Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Comstock, G., & Scharrer, E. (2005). The Psychology of Media and Politics. San Diego: Elsevier Academic Press.
Donsbach, W., Salmon, C.T. & Tsfati, Y. (Eds.). (2014). The Spiral of Silence: New Perspectives on Communication and Public Opinion. [Kindle Version]. Retrieved from: Amazon.com
Glynn, C., Hayes, A., & Shanahan, J. (1997). Perceived Support for One's Opinions and Willingness to Speak Out: A Meta-Analysis of Survey Studies on the "Spiral of Silence". Public Opinion Quarterly, 61(3), 452. DOI: 10.1086/297808
Gonzalez, H. (2006). Mass media and the Spiral of Silence: The Philippines from Marcos to Aquino. Journal of Communication, 38(4), 33-48.
Zetterberg, H. (2004). US Election 1948: The First Great Controversy about Polls, Media, and Social Science. Zetterberg.org. Retrieved 12 November 2014, from http://www.zetterberg.org/Lectures/l041115.htm
