Spiral Of Silence

Table of Contents

1. Table of contents………………………………………………………………..…………1
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………...…………2
2. Spiral of silence Theory………………..………………………………………………...3
2.1 Assumptions..………………..………………………………………...……………...3,4
2.2 Applications of the theory…………………………………………....…............……..5
2.3 Strengths of the spiral of silence. Benefits……………………………………5
2.4 Limitations of thespiral of silence. Disadvantages………………………….5

3. Spiral of silence and the new network society……………………………….6
2.1 PR research that has made use of the theory in the past………………..6,7
4. Spiral of silence in internal corporate communication ……………...……7,8
5. Conclusion.……………………………………………………………………………………96.References................................................................................................................10,11






1-Introduction
The topic of this essay is the importance of Spiral of Silence Theory into the internal corporate communication. Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann formulated this theory that nowadays is of a great importance when a public relations professional creates a communication strategy with their staff.
This essay is divided into 4 parts:
-Firstly; Definition of the theory, assumptions, applications of the theory, strengths and limitations of the theory.
- Secondly; Spiral of silence and the new network society- PR research that has made use of the theory in the past.
- Thirdly; spiral of silence in internal corporate communication.
- Fourthly; conclusion.












2-Spiral of silence theory
The basis of the Spiral ofSilence Theory is the concept of public opinion.
Jean Jacques Rousseau was the first author that consciously and critically analyzed the concept of public opinion. In The Social Contract (Du Contract Social, 1762), he writes: “I´m talking… mainly about public opinion, an unknown factor for our theoreticians in politics, but in which the success of all the rest depends on”.
For the ones who seeRousseau with scepticism, I would add that he was not the only one who thought that way. Maquiavelo, Shakespeare, John Locke and David Hume were firmly convinced of the importance of public opinion as well.
Public opinion is, essentially, a mechanism which makes possible the cohesion and the integration of societies and groups, from which it depends the survival of the community and its capacityof action. What is more, even though we do not have yet a great knowledge of the way this process is produced from an anthropological point of view or, in a broad sense, from a biological point of view, there are many indications which allow us to think that the investigation of the human brain will bring us an important clue. The key lies in the question that people, like animals, have an innatefear of isolation.
From the concept of public opinion is born the theory of spiral of silence at the hands of its creator Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann who formulated the theory in Germany in 1984. The spiral of silence is a model which explains why people are unwilling to express their opinions in public when they believe that they are in the minority. The spiral of silence model describes theincreasing pressure which people are noticing to conceal their views, when they think that they are in the minority. The framework is based on following assumptions:
2.1-Assumptions:
1. People have a fear of being rejected by those in their social environment, which is called "fear of isolation."
2. People are constantly observing the behaviours of those around them, and seeing which gainapproval and disapproval from society.
3. People unconsciously issue their own threats of isolation by showing signals of approval or disapproval.
4. Threats of isolation are avoided by a person's tendency to refrain from making a statement about something they think might attract objections.
5. People are more willing to publicly state things that they believe will be accepted positively.
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