Spiral of Silence

Spiral of silence theory argues that public opinion is a powerful force in contemporary society and explains the role of the mass media in contributing to—and even magnifying—the effects of that force. Since the publication of the initial version of spiral of silence in a 1974 journal article by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, a leading German communication scholar and public-opinion researcher, the theory and its associated methodological approach have had important implications, both in the United States and internationally, for interpersonal, group, and mediated communication, as well as for sociology, social psychology, political science, and even marketing. At the same time, debates about a number of claims presented in the original formulation of the theory and questions about the personal and political history of its founder have made spiral of silence a particularly controversial communication concept.

Spiral of silence theory argues that individuals feel pressure to conceal their opinions when they sense that those views are in the minority or out of the mainstream. At the same time, individuals will more freely express their opinions when they sense that they represent a majority standpoint. Because the mass media repeatedly signal to members of society which views are acceptable and which are not, a spiral effect is produced: Majority views are made to seem even more dominant than they might really be—thanks to their perpetual media coverage and its implicit or explicit endorsement—while minority views are made to seem even less popular or more distant from the mainstream than might actually be the case, due to the media's tendencies to marginalize or even ignore them entirely. As a result, mass media audiences will be increasingly encouraged to either speak their minds if their views match those presented by the media as those of the majority or to keep silent if their views are those the media downplay, marginalize, or criticize. As certain views are given more voice in society and others less, the media pick up on this polarization and magnify it. And so the spiral continues.

The core components of spiral of silence, as originally laid out by Noelle-Neumann in a series of journal articles published in Germany and the United States during the 1970s and expanded in her 1984 book, The Spiral of Silence: Public Opinion—Our Social Skin, include the following: fear of isolation, public opinion and the quasi-statistical organ that measures such opinion, media roles and characteristics, and the resulting spiral itself.