Chapter 29: Spiral of Silence

The Spiral of Silence deals with people's fear to speak up in situations of public opinion. The theory states that people fear being isolated, and as a result of that fear, they are unlikely to voice their opinion if they believe they are in the minority. According to the theory, the farhter a person perceives their opinion to be from that of the majority, the less likely they are to speak out. The fear that one's opinion is in the minority can be compounded by the media if it presents only a limited range of opinions on a particular issue.

An example of the Spiral of Silence would be if a group of friends was trying to decide whether to see a movie or go bowling. Although there are seven people in the group, only three want to go bowling, but they are the first to speak up as well as the most vocal. The other four members may begin to believe they are in the minority even though they are not, and might be likely to keep silent about what they would prefer to do.