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Chapter 22: Spiral of Silence Theory
West, Introducing Communication Theory, 6e
Chapter 22
Spiral of Silence Theory
Chapter Outline
I. Introduction
• Opinions are not static and frequently change over the years.
• One important influence on one’s opinions is the media.
o Often, this influence is subtle; at other times it is more direct.
• Noelle-Neumann’s Spiral of Silence theory is important to address for several reasons.
o The theory “directly relates to speech freedom, which is the cornerstone of our
democracy” (Liu, 2006).
o It is a theory that weaves communication and public opinion, two critical areas in
virtually any democracy around the globe (Donsbach, Salmon, and Tsfati, 2013).
o Spiral of Silence scholars have made efforts to make their theory culturally relevant
in societies where media remain important and influential.
• Noelle-Neumann focuses on what happens when people provide their opinions on a variety
of issues that the media have defined for the public.
• The Spiral of Silence Theory suggests that people who believe that they hold a minority
viewpoint on a public issue will remain in the background where their communication will
be restrained.
o Those who believe that they hold a majority viewpoint will be more encouraged to
speak.
• The media will focus more on the majority views, underestimating the minority views.
II. The Court of Public Opinion
• There are three meanings of public.
o Public suggests that it is open to everyone, as in “public lands” or “public place.”
o Public pertains to the concerns or issues of people, as in “the public responsibility of
journalists.”
o Public represents the social-psychological side of people.
• An opinion is an expression of an attitude.
o Opinions may vary in both intensity and stability.
o Opinion is a level of agreement of a particular population.
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Chapter 22: Spiral of Silence Theory
West, Introducing Communication Theory, 6e
o In the spiral of silence process, opinion is synonymous with something regarded as
acceptable.
• Noelle-Neumann defines public opinion as the “attitudes or behaviors one must express in
public if one is not to isolate oneself; in areas of controversy or change, public opinions are
those attitudes one can express without running the danger of isolating oneself.”
o Public opinion is a dynamic process and limited by time and place.
o Public opinion refers to the collective sentiments of a population on a particular
subject.
o Public opinion may be influenced by who approves or disapproves of one’s views.
III .Assumptions of Spiral of Silence Theory
• Society threatens deviant individuals with isolation; fear of isolation is pervasive.
• This fear of isolation causes individuals to try to assess the climate of opinion at all times.
• Public behavior is affected by public opinion assessment.
• The first assumption asserts that society holds power over those who do not conform
through threat of isolation.
• Noelle-Neumann believes that the very essence of one’s society depends on people
commonly recognizing and endorsing a set of values.
o Public opinion determines whether these values have equal conviction across the
populations.
o When people agree on a common set of values, then their fear of isolation decreases.
o When there is a difference in values, fear of isolation sets in.
• Asch believed that individuals frequently feel great pressure to agree with others, even
though the others are incorrect.
• Responding to primary criticisms of the Asch studies, Noelle-Neumann engaged in a more
saying, “It seems to me that smokers are terribly inconsiderate. They force others to
inhale their health-endangering smoke.”
o Respondents were asked to phrase responses to the statement.
o The results indicated that in the presence of nonsmokers, many smokers were less
willing to support smokers’ rights overtly.
• The second assumption of the theory identifies people as constant assessors of the climate
of public opinion.
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Chapter 22: Spiral of Silence Theory
West, Introducing Communication Theory, 6e
o Individuals receive information about public opinion from two sources: personal
observation and the media.
• Noelle-Neumann (1991) states that people engage in a quasi-statistical ability to appraise
public opinion.
o A quasi-statistical sense means that people are able to estimate the strength of
opposing sides in a public debate.
▪ They are able to do this by listening to the views of others and incorporating
that knowledge into their own viewpoints.
• People seek out the media to confirm or disconfirm their observations and then interpret
their own observations through the media.
• The final assumption of the theory is that the public’s behavior is influenced by evaluations
of public opinion.
o Public behavior takes the form of either speaking out on a subject or keeping silent.
o People seem to act according to how other people feel.
o Humans have an aversion to discussing topics that do not have the support of the
majority.
IV. The Media’s Influence
• Spiral of Silence Theory rests on public opinion.
• Noelle-Neumann cautions that “much of the population adjusts its attitudes to the tenor of
the media.”
• The media provide sometimes biased words and phrases so people can confidently speak
about a subject.
o If certain words or phrases are favored by the media, then many people will fall
silent.
o The public is given a limited view of reality.
• Ubiquity refers to the fact that the media are pervasive sources of information.
• The cumulativeness of the media refers to the process of the media repeating themselves
across programs and across time.
• Consonance pertains to the similarities of beliefs, attitudes, and values held by the media.
directly and the climate the media report.
o Despite the differences in opinion, many people decide to remain silent.
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Chapter 22: Spiral of Silence Theory
West, Introducing Communication Theory, 6e
V. The Train Test
• The train test is an assessment of the extent to which people will speak out with their own
opinion.
o The train test asks people a question such as the following: Suppose that you have a
five-hour train ride ahead of you and a person sits next to you and starts to discuss
the problems of food safety. Would you talk or not talk about the topic to the person?
• The test revealed a number of factors that help determine whether a person will voice an
opinion:
o People will voice an opinion if it aligns with societal views.
o People tend to share their opinions with those who agree with them more than with
those who disagree.
o People draw the strength of their convictions from a variety of sources, including
family, friends, and acquaintances.
o People may engage in last-minute swing or jumping on the bandwagon of the
popular opinion during the final moments of conversation.
VI. The Hard Core
• The hard core represents a group of individuals who know that there is a price to pay for
their assertiveness.
o They try to buck the dominant way of thinking and are prepared to directly confront
anyone who gets in their way or who refuses to allow their voices to be heard.
• Shulman argues that if the majority opinion becomes large enough, the majority voice
becomes less powerful because no alternative opinions exist.
VII. The Spiral of Silence and Social Media
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Chapter 22: Spiral of Silence Theory
West, Introducing Communication Theory, 6e
• The Spiral of Silence theory had its infancy during a time when social media did not exist.
opinions, and the extent of their interest.
VIII. Integration, Critique, and Closing
• The Spiral of Silence Theory is one of the few theories in communication that focuses on
public opinion.
• The theory has been identified as an important foundation for examining the human
condition (Csikszentmihalyi, 1991).
A. Logical Consistency
• Charles Salmon and F. Gerald Kline (1985) state that the Spiral of Silence fails to
acknowledge a person’s ego involvement in an issue.
• Carroll Glynn and Jack McLeod (1985) note two additional shortcomings pertaining to
the logical consistency of the theory.
o First, they believe that the fear of isolation may not motivate people to express
their opinions.
o Second, Glynn and McLeod were troubled by how the theory was developed, and
relied extensively upon, West Germany media.
B. Heurism
• Some writers (Simpson, 1996) have attempted to discredit the theory because of its lack
o This sort of scholarly dialogue enhances the heuristic appeal of the theory.
Classroom Activities
West, Introducing Communication Theory, 6e
1. The Silent Minority
Objective: To give students the opportunity to examine an issue on which they have
remained silent
Materials: None
Directions:
a. Instruct students to identify an issue on which they have been a part of the silent
• What is the majority opinion?
• How do the media report the majority opinion and/or the minority opinion?
• Do they fear isolation as part of the silent minority?
2. Theory, Ethics, and Personal Beliefs
Objective: To have students examine the human nature of theory building
Materials: None
Directions:
a. Have students review Simpson’s criticism of Noelle-Neumann.
b. Engage students in a discussion about the human nature of theory building, focusing
on the following questions:
• Should Simpson levy such criticism?
• Should a theory be evaluated on a theorist’s personal beliefs?
• Can theory building be objective?
3. The Cumulative Nature of News
Objective: To give students the opportunity to examine the news and its cumulative effect
Materials: Audio/video recordings of radio/television news broadcasts, newspapers
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Chapter 22: Spiral of Silence Theory
Directions:
a. Before class, record one day’s worth of radio and television news, and collect local
and national newspapers.
b. In class, play the recordings, and pass out the newspapers.
local news.
d. Lead a class discussion focusing on the following questions: