Spiral of Silence

Baran and Davis wrote that Noelle-Neumann argued that her perspective involves “a return to the concept of powerful mass media (1995), to which Elihu Katz argued “that they are an updated version of mass society (1995). According to McQuail, the spiral of silence is a close neighbor of the mass society theory and involves a similar, somewhat pessimistic, view of the quality of social relations (2005,).

Fear of Isolation

Griffin defined fear of isolation as the engine that drives or the centrifugal force that accelerates the spiral of silence (2007).

Baran and Davis explained that because of people’s fear of isolation or separation from around them, they tend to keep their attitudes to themselves when they think they are in the minority (1995).

Baran and Davis further explained that the media, because of some factors, tend to present one, or at most two, sides of an issue to the exclusion of others, which further encourages those people to keep quiet and makes it even tougher for media to uncover and to register that opposite viewpoint, which are often ignored, marginalized, and trivialized (1995, p. 236).

Katz, in an essay critical of the spiral of silence, summarized Noelle-Neumann’s thinking that individuals have opinions, but because of fear of isolation, they will not express their opinion if they perceive themselves supported by others. Holders of the minority viewpoint are willing to speak out if they feel that they are supported by the media dominant tendency (Baran & Davis, 1995, p. 238-239).

Overcoming the Silence

There are exceptions to the spiral of silence because there are groups and individuals who do not fear isolation and who will express their opinion no matter what the consequences (Littlejohn 2002).

Noelle-Neumann described two types of groups and individuals who form a vocal minority that remains at the top of the spiral of silence in defiance of threats of isolation: the hardcore nonconformists and the avant-garde (Griffin, 2007).

Hard core nonconformists resist the pressure to be silent because they have been overpowered and relegated to a completely defensive position in public, because they have nothing to lose by speaking out, and because they cling to the past and regard isolation as the price to pay (Griffin, 2007).

Avant-garde, which includes artists, reformers, and intellectuals, form the vanguard of new ideas who seek public approval or response, even though it may be negative, and who are convinced that will get positive feedback in the future, and who hold minority ideas that are ahead of times (Griffin, 2007).

Main Assumptions

Spiral of silence assumes that (1) society threatens deviant individuals with fear of isolation, (2) groups and individuals experience fear of isolation continuously, (3) fr of isolation causes individuals to try to assess the climate of opinion at all times, and (4) far of isolation affects their behavior in public, especially their willingness or not to express opinions openly (McQuail, 2005)