BLOG #7 EOTO

THE SPIRAL OF SILENCE

Have you ever been asked a question, answer it, then look around hoping people are nodding and agreeing with you? But they aren’t? Or you’re asked a question and decide to answer it the way you think most people would agree with and it’s what they likely think but it’s not actually what you think it is? Or you just decide not to answer at all? The spiral of silence is real. 

WHAT IS IT?

The spiral of silence is a theory that people stay silent when they’re not sure that their views on something will be the same as how the majority views it. They may fear that they will be isolated if the group realizes the person has a different opinion from theirs or an even worse fear that if they give their opinion something negative could happen besides just isolation. The fear of social isolation has the person constantly monitoring the behavior of others for signs of approval or disapproval. Isolation threats could be laughing at someone, making faces, criticizing or even worse. 

For this theory to exist though it means that the person really believes that they know what the popular opinion is. When someone in that majority then talks about the popular opinion in a confident way it starts the spiral or keeps it going because the minority person then gets more distant from the majority and more likely to not give their real opinion. All the fears take over and will keep building and the downward spiral keeps going.

IMPLICATIONS

I think the implications of this can be bad because it will prevent people from being their authentic selves and stating their real opinions on something. It can stop the free flow of ideas that can sometimes help solve problems or create new things. It also affects society by making the majority view larger than it actually is because the minority people have now added to it by just agreeing with the majority.

It may also prevent people in the assumed majority from understanding a minority person’s opinion and to be more accepting of others’ views. But there is too much fear by the minority to give their opinion and let that happen. And there is the continuance of the spiral.

Good implications may be that it keeps a discussion focused and moving forward and to more easily come to an agreement. But this can be at the expense of those in the minority.

I believe different segments of people are affected differently. For rich vs poor this is an issue because I think society considers rich people to have more whether it’s money or power. Along with this comes thinking that they are in a higher position, they are smarter because they have more education and their opinions count more and then they’re seen as the majority. Poor people may keep their opinions to themselves and go along with what they think are smarter opinions of the rich people if they believe they’re in the minority so they are caught in the spiral of silence.

I think that old vs young people are affected differently by the spiral of silence. Older people are more established and confident in their beliefs so I don’t think they hold back on their opinions. I don’t think they fall into the spiral. Younger people are more concerned with what people think about them and they wouldn’t want to feel isolated from them. So they probably monitor what they think opinions are and more likely to fall into the spiral of silence. 

For gays vs straights I believe this is a real issue. The straight community is usually looked at as the majority and likely don’t have any issues voicing opinions. The gay community has historically been the minority so many people are afraid to share either that they are gay or their opinions on situations fearing isolation in some form. This keeps them from being genuine and sharing their real opinions if they are monitoring their environment and feel they’re in the minority— it puts and keeps them in the spiral of silence.

The spiral of silence affects me, my family, and friends since we all end up at some point in conversations that may be more heated, sensitive or with people who have strong opinions. We all have a choice to voice opinions or not but it is up to that person whether they feel the fear of being in the minority and of being isolated. Some people won’t care and will voice opinions regardless. Others will be more concerned and may then fall into the spiral of silence if they assess the group and think they’re in the minority. 

My generation is influenced a lot by social media which can easily create and keep the spiral going because you see so many posts and opinions in a certain direction. You then may start to feel like an outsider and pressured to either stay silent or to go along with the majority whether you’re giving your opinion on a social media site or actually with people. And the more you look the more the same algorithm keeps sending you those majority opinions. 

But it can also be helpful to have social media because there are different groups you can seek out to find someone with the same opinion as you and then you may not stay silent because you’ve found others that believe what you believe. Also, commenting on social media may feel safer even if in a minority because you aren’t face to face with a person and even if you receive negative comments there is less fear of the isolation.