Spiral of Silence - Fear of Isolation: Conformity Drives The Spiral

Fear of Isolation: Conformity Drives The Spiral

Noelle-Neumann asserts that the fear of being in isolation is what initiates the spiral. People have a tendency to conform as demonstrated by psychologist Solomon Asch in which he passed out sheets of paper that contained 4 lines. The lines were labeled A, B, C and X. The question was to choose which line was the same length as X. If an entire room of individuals answered that line B was correct, but you thought line A was correct, would you stick up for your opinion? Or would you conform to the rest of the room's opinion? It turns out, one individual would receive a different sheet of paper than the rest of the class in which the answer wouldn't coincide. The study showed that the majority of the time, the individual with the oddball paper would conform to the idea of the rest of the class. This person feared being isolated from the majority, and therefore, silenced their own opinion and decided to go with the flow. Not only is this the theory in a nut-shell, but it clearly shows what causes the theories correctness.