2007/12/12 by Andrew F. Hayes · 175 citations
Computer Science · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Aesthetics #Art #Censorship #Communication in Education and Healthcare #Computer science #Expression (computer science) #Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection #Law #Media studies #Political science #Psychology #Silence #Social Media and Politics #Social psychology #Sociology #State (computer science)
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2007.00368.x
published in Journal of Communication 57(4), 785-802 (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 2007/12/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
In almost all studies investigating spiral of silence theory, the outcome variable has been a person’s reported willingness to express his or her opinion or engage others in a conversation. Research to date is largely silent on strategies that people might use to avoid speaking their opinion when it is requested by an audience hostile to that opinion. Participants in this study were asked how they would respond to a request for their opinion by a person who would disagree. Responses revealed a variety of different strategies people report they would use to censor their own opinion expression, such as expressing indifference or ambivalence, trying to change the subject, or reflecting the question back without answering it. An experimental manipulation of the climate of opinion revealed that a hostile opinion climate prompted greater use of expression avoidance strategies than a friendly climate, and some topics of conversation prompted more opinion expression avoidance independent of the climate of opinion.