The Spiral of Silence was a theory created by Dr. Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, a German political analyst in 1974. The theory is based on the public opinion; as Neumann suggests, people are more confident in voicing out their opinions if they know that their own opinion matches the opinion of the majority. In some cases, if the opinions bare quite different than that of the majority, people refuse to voice out their opinions and remain silent (Donsbach, Salmon and Tsfati, 2014).
Those people who belong to the minority are afraid to voice out their views for the fear of being socially isolated from the rest. In Psychology, social isolation is one of the worst cases wherein a normally social individual is deprived of the ability to mingle with others. Rather than using the freedom of expression, these people prefer to remain silent in fear of being humiliated in front of the others and being rejected by the society. The term ‘spiral of silence’ refers to the increasing pressure that people feel to hide their opinions when they think they are in the minority. As Neumann suggested, she firmly believes that the influence of the television creates the ‘spiral effect.’
The television, radio, newspapers, and the social media such as Facebook and Twitter educates people about the latest buzz in the society. All of these in general are different forms of mass media. Mass Media provides a picture of dominantly accepted social norms, customs, styles of clothing, and the current events. Simon and Garfunkel once noted, “Silence is like a cancer grows,” because it deprives people of the right to voice out their thoughts; similar to cancer as it deteriorates the body. To avoid this, a person should have a firm grasp on his/her opinion and whether the public will accept it. All people of all races are exposed to the mass media and therefore more prone to the ‘spiral effect.’
Reference
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
