The Spiral of Silence

The spir­al of silence is an influ­en­tial media theory.

The fear of guilt by asso­ci­ation is so power­ful that indi­vidu­als would con­sider sup­port­ing a cause they strongly dis­agree with — from fear of social isolation. 

However, self-induced silence can also be a breed­ing ground for pop­u­lism and can­cel culture.

Here we go:

Spiral of Silence

The spir­al of silence occurs when indi­vidu­als refrain from express­ing their opin­ions because they per­ceive that their views are in the minor­ity or not socially accept­able. This fear of isol­a­tion or rejec­tion leads to a self-rein­for­cing cycle where more and more people choose silence, rein­for­cing the dom­in­ance of the pre­vail­ing view­point, even if it doesn’t reflect the true diversity of opinions.

Spiral of silence (example): “I dis­agree with the major­ity opin­ion about this new policy, but since every­one else seems to sup­port it, I’ll keep quiet to avoid conflict.”

In a busi­ness con­text, the spir­al of silence can pre­vent valu­able dis­sent­ing per­spect­ives from being heard, lead­ing to group­think and poor decision-mak­ing. When employ­ees, stake­hold­ers, or teams feel pres­sured to con­form to the major­ity view, crit­ic­al feed­back or altern­at­ive ideas may be sup­pressed, which can hinder innov­a­tion, cre­ate blind spots, and res­ult in sub­op­tim­al outcomes.

To break the spir­al of silence, busi­ness lead­ers should cre­ate an open and inclus­ive envir­on­ment where all voices are encour­aged and val­ued, regard­less of how they align with the major­ity opinion. 

Encouraging con­struct­ive debate, ensur­ing psy­cho­lo­gic­al safety, and act­ively seek­ing diverse per­spect­ives help pre­vent the stifling of crit­ic­al thought. By pro­mot­ing an atmo­sphere where dis­sent is seen as a strength rather than a weak­ness, organ­isa­tions can make bet­ter-informed decisions and foster a cul­ture of innov­a­tion and growth.

In the quiet of con­sensus, loud truths are often drowned by the fear of stand­ing alone.

Learn more: The Spiral of Silence

The Spiral of Silence Theory

Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann’s (1916 – 2010) well-doc­u­mented the­ory on the spir­al of silence (1974) explains why the fear of isol­a­tion due to peer exclu­sion will pres­sure pub­lics to silence their opinions.

The the­ory was developed in the late 1970s in West Germany, partly in response to Noelle-Neumann’s obser­va­tions of how pub­lic opin­ion seemed to shift dur­ing the Nazi régime and post-war Germany.

The spir­al of silence the­ory is based on the idea that people fear social isol­a­tion. This fear influ­ences their will­ing­ness to express their opin­ions, espe­cially if they believe these opin­ions are in the minority.

Rather than risk­ing social isol­a­tion, many choose silence over express­ing their opinions.

As the dom­in­ant coali­tion stands unop­posed, they push the con­fines of what’s accept­able down a nar­row­er and nar­row­er fun­nel, the so-called opin­ion cor­ridor). ¹Opinion cor­ridor. (2023, April 8). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​O​p​i​n​i​o​n​_​c​o​r​r​i​dor

Noelle-Neumann emphas­ised the medi­a’s role in shap­ing pub­lic per­cep­tion of what opin­ions are dom­in­ant or pop­u­lar, thus influ­en­cing the spir­al of silence. 

Populism and Cancel Culture

The mech­an­isms behind Elisabeth Noelle Neumann’s spir­al of silence the­ory could fuel destruct­ive soci­et­al phe­nom­ena like pop­u­lism and can­cel culture:

In both cases, the spir­al of silence con­trib­utes to a polar­ised envir­on­ment. Views become dom­in­ant not neces­sar­ily because they are more pop­u­lar but because oppos­ing views are not expressed due to fear of social isol­a­tion or repercussions.

Learn more: The Spiral of Silence

Cancel Culture is Evil

What is can­cel culture?

Cancel cul­ture = the weapon­isa­tion of social out­rage to silence, pun­ish, and exile indi­vidu­als or ideas rather than enga­ging with them in ration­al debate. 

Cancel cul­ture thrives on pub­lic sham­ing, digit­al mob justice, and elim­in­at­ing nuance, redu­cing com­plex human beings to single state­ments or actions — often taken out of con­text or judged ret­ro­act­ively by evolving mor­al standards. 

“Cancel cul­ture or call-out cul­ture is a phrase con­tem­por­ary to the late 2010s and early 2020s used to refer to a form of ostra­cism in which someone is thrust out of social or pro­fes­sion­al circles — wheth­er it be online, on social media, or in per­son. Those sub­ject to this ostra­cism are said to have been ‘can­celled’.”
Source: Wikipedia ⁴Cancel cul­ture. (2023, January 4). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​C​a​n​c​e​l​_​c​u​l​t​ure

Conformity, Oppression, and Stagnation

Unlike tra­di­tion­al account­ab­il­ity, which allows for dis­cus­sion, learn­ing, and pro­por­tion­al con­sequences, can­cel cul­ture demands imme­di­ate and abso­lute destruction. 

Historically, soci­et­ies that have embraced ideo­lo­gic­al purges — wheth­er in the form of book burn­ings, black­lists, or polit­ic­al witch hunts — have not led to pro­gress but instead to oppres­sion and intel­lec­tu­al stag­na­tion. Cancel cul­ture, while often dis­guised as act­iv­ism, is fun­da­ment­ally a mod­ern form of author­it­ari­an con­trol, ensur­ing con­form­ity not through reas­on but through intimidation.

In its most extreme form, can­cel cul­ture leads to col­lect­ive amne­sia, eras­ing people, books, films, and even his­tor­ic­al fig­ures from pub­lic life, as if uncom­fort­able real­it­ies can be scrubbed from existence. 

What makes can­cel cul­ture par­tic­u­larly insi­di­ous is that it oper­ates out­side form­al insti­tu­tions, giv­ing unac­count­able digit­al mobs the power to act as judges, jur­ies, and executioners. 

The Terror of Being Next

“Cancel cul­ture on social media is a form of pub­lic sham­ing that aims to dif­fuse pub­lic dis­course and pro­mote tol­er­ance, but can also be viewed as a form of intol­er­ance against oppos­ing views.”
Source: Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities ⁵Velasco, J. (2020). You are Cancelled: Virtual Collective Consciousness and the Emergence of Cancel Culture as Ideological Purging. Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 12. … Continue read­ing

Cancel cul­ture replaces con­ver­sa­tion with coer­cion, cre­at­ing a world where mor­al pur­ity is per­form­at­ive and intel­lec­tu­al explor­a­tion is replaced by ideo­lo­gic­al conformity. 

A soci­ety ruled by the fear of can­cel­la­tion is not a free soci­ety — it is a social pan­op­ticon in which people are not guided by mor­al con­vic­tion but by the ter­ror of being next.

It cre­ates an atmo­sphere of fear (i.e. the spir­al of silence), where people are afraid to express dis­sent­ing opin­ions, ask dif­fi­cult ques­tions, or chal­lenge pre­vail­ing dog­mas. This stifles cre­ativ­ity, intel­lec­tu­al diversity, and essen­tial human inter­ac­tion, as indi­vidu­als con­stantly self-cen­sor to avoid social annihilation. 

How To Navigate Cancel Culture

The cul­ture war with de-plat­form­ing, can­cel cul­ture, online lynch mobs, woke journ­al­ism, pop­u­lism, fake news, and mor­al slackt­iv­ism are fast becom­ing our biggest chal­lenges as PR professionals.

Here’s how to nav­ig­ate can­cel culture:

Learn more: Cancel Culture is Evil

The Conversion Theory

The social psy­cho­lo­gist Serge Moscovici found that we become more engaged if we belong to a mis­rep­res­en­ted minor­ity.

The dis­pro­por­tion­al power of minor­it­ies is known as the con­ver­sion the­ory. ⁶Conversion the­ory of minor­ity influ­ence. (2021, February 12). In Wikipedia. https://​en​.wiki​pe​dia​.org/​w​i​k​i​/​C​o​n​v​e​r​s​i​o​n​_​t​h​e​o​r​y​_​o​f​_​m​i​n​o​r​i​t​y​_​i​n​f​l​u​e​nce

“In groups, the minor­ity can have a dis­pro­por­tion­ate effect, con­vert­ing many ‘major­ity’ mem­bers to their own cause. This is because many major­ity group mem­bers are not strong believ­ers in its cause. They may be simply going along because it seems easi­er or that there is no real altern­at­ive. They may also have become dis­il­lu­sioned with the group pur­pose, pro­cess, or lead­er­ship and are seek­ing a viable altern­at­ive.”
Source: Changingminds​.org ⁷Conversion Theory. (2023). Changingminds​.org. https://​chan​ging​minds​.org/​e​x​p​l​a​n​a​t​i​o​n​s​/​t​h​e​o​r​i​e​s​/​c​o​n​v​e​r​s​i​o​n​_​t​h​e​o​r​y​.​htm

How does it work?

The social cost of hold­ing a dif­fer­ent view than the major­ity is high. This increased cost explains why minor­it­ies often hold their opin­ions more firmly. It takes determ­in­a­tion to go against the norm. ⁸Moscovici, S. (1980). Toward a the­ory of con­ver­sion beha­viour. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 13, 209 – 239. New York: Academic Press

In con­trast, many major­ity mem­bers don’t hold their opin­ions so firmly. They might belong to the major­ity for no oth­er reas­on than that every­one else seems to be. ⁹Chryssochoou, X. and Volpato, C. (2004). Social Influence and the Power of Minorities: An Analysis of the Communist Manifesto, Social Justice Research, 17, 4, 357 – 388

According to con­ver­sion the­ory, while major­it­ies often claim norm­at­ive social influ­ence, minor­it­ies strive for eth­ic­al high ground. 

Conversion Theory Examples

Given the power of norm­at­ive social influ­ence, minor­it­ies typ­ic­ally form tight-knit groups that can gath­er around a core mes­sage.

Most big shifts usu­ally start with a small group of ded­ic­ated people:

Minority Influence: A PR Approach

Organisations with CSR aspir­a­tions can cul­tiv­ate a sense of pur­pose and accom­plish­ment among par­ti­cipants by align­ing with a move­ment that chal­lenges a stu­pid majority.

Since we tend to favour under­dogs, liais­ing with a care­fully selec­ted minor­ity can be a game-chan­ging PR strategy.

Minority spokes­per­sons with sol­id con­vic­tions often pos­sess valu­able know­ledge and author­ity, enhan­cing their per­suas­ive abil­it­ies and influence.

Disproportionately, minor­it­ies can con­vert numer­ous major­ity mem­bers to their cause, as many in the major­ity may have merely fol­lowed the path of least res­ist­ance, made decisions without much con­sid­er­a­tion, or lacked viable alternatives.

Additionally, a sig­ni­fic­ant seg­ment of the major­ity might be dis­il­lu­sioned with their group’s pur­pose, pro­cess, or lead­er­ship, ren­der­ing them more recept­ive to altern­at­ive proposals.

Proceed With Caution, Please

As PR pro­fes­sion­als, we must be cau­tious when imple­ment­ing the con­ver­sion theory.

Minorities aren’t always right, and major­it­ies aren’t always wrong. Minorities can hold futile views while still exer­cising a dis­pro­por­tion­ate amount of power.

Learn more: Conversion Theory: The Disproportionate Influence of Minorities

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