Turbulences in the Climate of Opinion: Methodological Applications of the Spiral of Silence Theory

1977/01/01 by Elisabeth Noëlle-Neumann · 8 citations
Physics and Astronomy · Psychology · Mathematics · #Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence #Silence #Spiral (railway) #Climate change #Psychology #Sociology #Political science #Philosophy #Geology #Mathematics #Aesthetics #Oceanography

paper · doi:10.1086/268371

openalex publication_date 1977/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

New tools for measuring changes in public opinion can be derived from the theory of the spiral of silence. Measures of individual assessment of the climate of opinion and of confidence about showing one's own opinion document the processes by which the losing side falls increasingly silent and the winning side is therefore overrated.

Citations

• The Spiral of Silence a Theory of Public Opinion

Cited by

• Chameleon voters and public choice
• “Was It Something I Said?” “No, It Was Something You Posted!” A Study of the Spiral of Silence Theory in Social Media Contexts
• Basque Nationalism and the Spiral of Silence
• Are social bots a real threat? An agent-based model of the spiral of silence to analyse the impact of manipulative actors in social networks
• The Spiral of Silence and Fear of Isolation
• Self-Serving Biases in Perceiving the Opinions of Others
• Societal Majority, Facebook, and the Spiral of Silence in the 2016 US Presidential Election
• Spiral of silence [wikipedia]