Why We Are Afraid to Speak Up

The “Spiral of Silence”
(Public Opinion Theory By Elizabeth Noelle-Newman)

 
A few days ago, I wrote an article about the Abilene Paradox, how a group can end up doing precisely what they are opposed to because everyone was afraid to speak up.

To prevent this from happening, CEOs and managers need to encourage an atmosphere where it is okay to speak up against the predominating opinion.  This can prevent the Abilene Paradox from taking an organization down the wrong path. 

 However, this is not an easy task, I mentioned, because of another well-known phenomenon called the “Spiral of Silence.”

Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann studied our interdependent, crowded, and information-saturated society and used extensive research to develop the “Spiral of Silence” theory of public opinion, a theory that explains the public opinion process, beginning from an individual level.

Although her theory is directed towards society and public opinion, I like to apply this theory to the corporate world and group communication.  I have seen this in action in corporations, families, the classroom, clubs, and even relationships. 

The most shocking discovery that Noelle-Neumann found was that people fear isolating themselves from society or their group, and this fear overrides everything else.
She believes that: “ To the individual, not isolating himself is often more important than his own judgment.”  EVEN if he or she believes something is wrong.

This means that voicing an opposition opinion, or acting in public accordingly, incurs the danger of isolation.   So this often keeps dissenting individuals quiet, even tolerating things in which they are opposed.  When I teach this in my workshops, I always add that this explains why so many people tolerated the civil rights inequalities in the 1950s, Apartheid in South Africa, and even the power of the Third Reich -- creating Nazi Youths -- everyone in the German public was afraid to speak up for fear of punishment and isolation from the group.   

On that note, the fascinating thing about this phenomenon is that those individuals who are brave enough to stand up and voice their dissent are the ones that create true change in our world.   Think of what Rosa Parks thought when she saw the other Blacks accepting the norms of sitting in the back of the bus.  She made a brave move and stood up and voiced her dissent.  Only when she did this, did other people stand up in agree.  This launched the civil rights movement, and eventually changed our world.   The same courage can be said for Nelson Mandela, who stood up and voiced his opposition against Apartheid, and faced the greatest penalty of isolation we know -- 27 years in prison.  But his courage also changed the world. 

Noelle-Newman says the active role of starting a process of public opinion formation is reserved to the one who does not allow himself to be threatened with isolation.  But it’s a risk, isn’t it?

So I believe that by learning about the “Spiral of Silence” we can learn to overcome it and help to bring real progress in our community, our organization, our schools and our families.  What we need is courage.  (Stay tuned for more articles regarding “Communicating Courageously.”
 
Have you faced the “Spiral of Silence” in voicing your opinion in your workforce, your community, your associations or clubs, your family?  Start today to notice what you do not agree, and speak up.  This takes courage.  But change cannot happen without it.

Noelle-Neumann theorizes that the tendency of one person to speak up and another to be silent rather than risk losing group membership “starts off a spiraling process, which increasingly establishes one opinion as the prevailing one.” 

Applied to public opinion, Noelle-Neumann found in her research that white men, younger persons, and the middle and upper classes are generally the most likely to speak out, the most vocal in our society.  So what is acceptable or ‘okay’ is formed by the loudest, strongest, and most vocal of our groups.  (I always snicker here, and ask my students -- what if middle-aged Black women were the most vocal, instead of young white men and the upper class -- and their opinions were established as the prevailing one?  I always get hoots of laughter from the Black men in the class when I ask this!)  But think about it!   Imagine how our priorities would be different!  Or, what if Native American grandmothers established our predominant opinion?  Just some food for thought about the “Spiral of Silence” in our world.