CHAPTER 23 Spiral of Silence Theory

(SST)

Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann’s Spiral of Silence theory (SST) assumes that the media influence our opinions about events, people, and topics.

• SST 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 constrained; those who believe they hold a majority viewpoint will become more encouraged to speak.

Assumptions of SST

1. Society threatens deviant individuals with isolation; fear of isolation is pervasive.

2. The fear of isolation causes individuals to try to assess the climate of opinions at all times.

Assumptions cont.

3. Public behavior is affected by public opinion assessment.

a. Public behavior takes the form of either speaking out on a subject or keeping silent.

b. People act according to how other people feel.

c. People seek out the media to confirm or disconfirm their observations and then interpret their own observations through the media

Characteristics of Media

1. Ubiquitous

a. Media are pervasive sources of information.

2. Cumulative

a. Refers to the process of the media repeating themselves across programs and across time

3. Consonant

a. Applies to the similarities of beliefs, attitudes, and values held by the media