Spiral of Silence Theory

 The Spiral of Silence Theory is the theory when someone has an opinion on a specific subject, but does not want to go in depth on their own personal beliefs because they are afraid people might disagree with them, leaving them isolated. This often times happens when new government policies, politics, and religious beliefs are widely spread. 

This theory was studied in the 1960s by German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann when she studied a people by giving them topics to go in depth about with other people around them. Those people around them where in on the experiment where they would make body gestures implying that they disagree with their opinion, leaving that person afraid to go in depth regarding their opinion. As the experiment went on, slowly by surely that person would grow silent and even second guess their beliefs.

In 1974 the study became a theory as we all know as the spiral of silence theory. Elisabeth found that the main issue with this theory is the fear of isolation, and this fear becomes so outwardly noticeable that it can paralyze peoples thought process regarding their own personal beliefs.

This theory if activated in peoples way of living can be detrimental to our society as a whole. The inability to be courageous for what you believe in is operating out of a state of fear, which will hold back our true potential not only in our own personal beliefs, but as innovators to discover new things within our resources around us, and more importantly our minds. 

This has the ability to affect virtually everyone, but specifically goes after people who are afraid of rejection and isolation. If that is the case, everyone at some point in their lives needs to be careful not to fall into this trap, as it can sneak up on you when most vulnerable. This is mostly targeted with an agenda behind it to accomplish something good or bad, but because the root results in fear, we know that is a very evil tactic.

If you dive even deeper, this fear driven agenda can cause even bigger issues. Think about a nation that is entirely to scared to talk about their views due to isolation. The surface level belief on a specific topic can bring people to not wanting to go deeper into it, bringing agreement on something that has serious tangled wires beneath, which can bring people to agreeing with something they don't actually agree with, just to keep their resume with others acceptable. The idea everyone is "agreeing" with becomes a monster, and brings confusion and hierarchy that is unwanted. 

One way we can avoid this is to be open minded individuals with one goal in mind. Seeking truth. If we can seek truth with everything we have and make that our passion, when an issue rises up where we need to speak on, our passion will overdrive our fear and we will be acting out of a state of courage rather than fear. We are created in the image of God who knows no fear. Fear is something the devil tries to get us caught up in because it has the ability to paralyze us, which is what he wants because he is afraid if we operate out of a spirt of courage, we will break down barriers and strong holds. He wants us in bondage, but God wants us free. 

https://noelle-neumann.de/scientific-work/spiral-of-silence/

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2014/08/26/social-media-and-the-spiral-of-silence/