From Spiral to the Silence: An Analysis of The Theory of Mass Communication

Abstract

Forty years ago, German scientist Elisabeth Noelle – Neumann developed a spiral of silence theory to describe the process of forming public opinion, that is, to explain why some social groups do not express opinions on controversial and moral issues, while other groups do not hesitate to express opinions on the same topics. As part of the theory, Noelle – Neumann set out five hypotheses on which to test the theory of the spiral of silence. The hypotheses are formulated based on prominent theories and basic concepts from the domain of public opinion.

Studying the literature and the theoretical starting point on which the empirical research is based on the validation of the assumptions of the theory, we can conclude that the original theoretical scope of the spiral of silence theory was sufficient to determine the concepts that form the backbone of the theoretical basis and the whole research. Through decades of subjecting the theory to numerous studies, the theoretical scope of the spiral of silence has been optimized by additional scientific-theoretical settings. The spiral of silence continues to spark debates among scientists and is applied today in research that most often tests the spiral of silence and its assumptions in the new media environment of online media and social networks. From previous research, it is evident that the theory obviously has some weaknesses and inconsistencies that need to be subjected to further testing.