Hilbert College. ORG

 Annotated Bibliography:

Spiral of Silence

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Abelson, R.P., E. Aronson, W.J. McGuire, T.M. Newcomb, M.J. Rosenberg, and P.H. Tannenbaum. (1968) Theories of Cognitive Consistency:A Source Book. Rand McNally and Company.

This book studies the psychology of cognitive consistency. It compares and contrasts the ideas of the dissonance theory, the balance theory, the congruity principle and others in order to bring about a general consensus of the varying ideas. This book was another which Noelle-Neumann cited in the spiral of silence.

Glynn, Carol J., Andrew F. Hayes, and James Shanahan. (1997) "A meta-analysis of survey studies on the spiral of silence." Public Opinion Quarterly. Vol 61. Elsevier Science Publishing Company.

This article analyzes several studies dealing with people's expected support for their opinions and the expression of these opinions. It determines that a small but significant relationship exists between a person's belief that others share his opinion and his willingness to express that opinion.

Glynn, Carroll J and Jack M. McLeod. (1984) "Public Opinion du jour: An examination of the spiral of silence." Public Opinion Quarterly. Vol. 48. Elsevier Science Publishing Company, Inc.

This study investigates the spiral of silence theory using both perceived voting outcomes and actual voting behaviors. Glynn and McLeod conducted three telephone interviews (two before the 1980 presidential election and one after) with 98 voters in Wisconsin to test the hypotheses that people are more willing to voice their opinion when they believe they are in the majority and that people are more likely to claim to prefer one candidate when they perceive that that candidate will win the election. The data gathered support both hypotheses.

Gonzales, Hernando. (1988) "Mass media and the spiral of silence: The Philippines from Marcos to Aquino." Journal of Communication. Vol. 38. Oxford University Press.

This study addresses the question of whether the spiral of silence theory can be applied to a third world setting. Gonzales bases his research on an analysis of the 1986 revolution in the Philippines. He found that although the mainstream media was not able to bring about public support for a discredited government (which it should have been able to do had the spiral of silence functioned as Noelle-Neumann described), some alternative media with more diverse reporting were able to shift public opinion against the Marcos regime.

Gozenbach, William J. and Robert L. Stephenson. (1994) "Children with AIDS attending public school: An analysis of the spiral of silence." Political Communicatin. Vol. 11. Taylor and Francis.

This study, which applies the spiral of silence theory to the question of whether children with AIDS should be allowed to attend public school, finds that those who think they are in the majority, whether they actually are or not, are most likely to speak out. The study refutes the hypothesis that a person is more likely to believe his opinion is held by the majority the more media exposure it gets. In reality, Gozenbach and Stephenson find, those with less knowledge and, thus, less media exposure think they have the majority opinion. Their findings do, however, support the "future trend" hypothesis that if someone believes his opinion is held by the majority, he also believes that his opinion is gaining strength.

Gozenbach, William J. (1992) "The conformity hyothesis: Empirical considerations for the spiral of silence's first link." Journalism Quarterly. Vol. 69. The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.

In this study, Gonzenbach tests how the spiral of silence theory works when applied to a controversial issue. His findings only partially support Noelle-Neumann's conformity hypothesis. Instead, he theorizes that conformity is also associated with both social position and psychological tendencies toward conformity.

Horkheimer, Max and Theodor W. Adorno. (1944) Dialectic of Enlightenment. Lowe and Brydone Ltd.

This book discusses the conversion of enlightenment, the movement characterized by a reliance on reason rather than tradition, to positivism, the state of being sure and confident. It also delves into the myth of things as they actually are. Noelle-Neumann cites this book in her book The Spiral of Silence.

Katz, Cheryl and Mark Baldassare. (1992) "Using the "l-word" in public: A test of the spiral of silence in conservative Orange County." Public Opinion Quarterly. Vol. 56. Elsevier Science Publishing Company.

Katz and Baldassare try to discover in this study whether people who know that their views are politically unpopular (for example, liberals in a conservative area) become less willing to voice their opinions. They did telephone surveys of voters in Orange County asking about their political views and asked each of them, "Would you be willing to talk about these questions with a reporter and have your name appear in the newspaper?" The hypothesis was that people with liberal views would be less willing to talk because of the risk of social isolation once their view were made public. On the contrary, people with minority views were just as willing to talk as anyone else. Age, sex, and income actually had more influence on how outspoken people were.

Kennamer, David J. (1992) Public Opinion, the Press, and Public Policy. Praeger Publishers.

In this book, the author discusses the spiral of silence theory in relation to the media. Noelle-Neumann believes that, in general, journalists are much more liberal than the rest of society. Because of this undercurrent of liberal orientation, the content of the media is often liberal as well, surrounding the population with a predominantly liberal society that it solely depends on. Noelle-Neumann claims that this immersion in and dependence on the media environment has a strong effect on individuals.

This article refutes Christopher Simpson's article "Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann's "Spiral of Silence" and the Historical Context of Communication Theory." Kepplinger questions Simpson's use of Noelle-Neumann's biography in evaluating a scientific work. He also finds that Simpson's allegations about Noelle-Neumann and her past are unfounded.

Lasorsa, Dominic L. (1991) "Political outspokenness: Factors working against the spiral of silence." Journalism Quarterly. Vol. 68. The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.

Lasorsa argues that a person's level of outspokenness depends not only on education, income, gender, and age, as is stated in Noelle-Neumann's theory, but also on factors such as political interest, self-efficacy, firmness of views, and use of media. According to this article, people may not simply be "helpless in the face of public opinion" Rather, individuals fear isolation only from specific groups, not from the public as a whole. Also, the article suggests that the positive influence of winning affects people as much as the negative influence of fear of isolation that Noelle-Neumann emphasizes.

Noelle-Neumann, Elisabeth. (1981) "Mass Media and Social Change in Developed Societies." Mass Media and Social Change. Sage Publications.

In this short essay, Noelle-Neumann again discusses her spiral of silence theory and uses it to analyze the media, especially that of Germany. She determines that the media does have influence, but only under certain circumstances, and this influence is limited. Therefore, a large gap can develop between representation in the media and the attitudes of the people.

Noelle-Neumann, Elisabeth. (1984) The Spiral of Silence. The University of Chicago Press.

In this book, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann explains her communication theory of the spiral of silence, "the process of an interactin between an indivual and his environment, in which dominant opinion is defended and new opinion is established." Noelle-Neumann explains that, by nature, people live in fear of isolation from others and carefully observe their surroundings to determine which opinions are popular. If they find that their own opinions are widely supported, then they will express themselves willngly in public. If they find, however, that their views are not shared, they fall silent. Because one group expresses itself with confidence while the other stays silent, the former appears strong and the latter weak. This encourages others to either voice their opinions or remain silent, and a spiral process begins.

Noelle-Neumann, Elisabeth. (1997) Statement delivered at the ICA Conference, Montreal Saturday, May 24, 1997. Online: http://www.uni-mainz.de/~ifpwww/statement.html

Noelle-Neumann explains the discrepancies in Christopher Simpson's article deriding her spiral of silence theory based on her background in Nazi Germany. She contends that with so many errors in detail, the Simpson article cannot be taken as an example of good scholarship. She further contends that Simpson obviously does not understand either the spiral of silence or the way public opinion operates in a dictatorship, which is entirely different.

Ross, Edward Alsworth. (1969) Social Control: A Survey of the Foundations of Order. The Press of Case Western Reserve University.

Ross discusses both the grounds of social control and the means of control. On the subject of public opinion, Ross states that a man's opinion of himself, as well as his other judgments, depend heavily on what others think. He describes the process of isolation when someone goes against the opinion of the public.

Rousseau, Jean Jacques. (1950) The Social Contract and Discourses. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc.

In this late eighteenth century novel, the Frenchman Jean Jacques Rousseau introduce his political philosophies. He theorizes that the agreement among individuals uniting for various reasons is how organized society began and rules were made to govern the relationships of individuals. It was from Rousseau's ideas and this book that Noelle-Neumann got the basis for much of her own theory.

Shamir, Jacob. (1992) "Information Cues and Indicators of the Climate of Opinion: The Spiral of Silence Theory in the Intifada." Communication Research. Vol. 22. Sage Periodicals Press.

This article examines Noelle-Neumann's spiral of silence theory based on survey data from Isreal during the Intifada. Although Shamir finds that the theory's strength lies in its concept of public opinion as a social phenomenon, he also finds that its weakness lies in only describing public opinion in social terms, ignoring the role of information. Spiral of silence does not address the role of mass media as a direct influence on behavior and also assumes that the public is highly susceptible to media manipulation.

Shea, Christopher. (1997) Protocol of the telephone interview by Christopher Shea, Chronicle of Higher Education, with Professor Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, Institut fur Demoskopie Allensbach. Online: http://www.uni-mainz.de/~ifpwww/protocol.html

In this interview, Noelle-Neumann replies to the Christopher Simpson article and explains certain elements of her past. She describes her work as a journalist under Hitler and the conditions she was forced to operate under. She also maintains that, although she had to write certain things or else face horrible consequences, she stayed as true to her beliefs as she possibly could and did not have Nazi sympathies.

Simpson, Christopher. (1996) "Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann's "Spiral of Silence" and the Historical Context of Communication Theory." Journal of Communication. Vol. 46. Sage Periodical Press.

Simpson's article attacks Noelle-Neumann's theory based on her history as a journalist in the Hitler era. He claims that she displays a distrust of diversity and plurality, contempt for democracy and the public, and willingness to use the liberal media as a scapegoat. He asserts that she also often presents her opinion as fact and promotes the interests of the powerful over the weak.

Taylor, D. Garth. (1982) "Pluralistic ignorance and the spiral of silence: A formal analysis." Public Opinion Quarterly. Vol. 46. Elsevier Science Publishing Company, Inc.

Taylor asks the question of whether people actually have the ability to accurately perceive public opinion, as Noelle-Neumann claims. He links her spiral of science theory with pluralistic ignorance theory. Taylor suggests that if the spiral of silence works as it should, then people should be more likely to express their opinion if they believe that trends in public opinion support that opinion.