Experimentální ověření teorie spirály mlčení v online a offline prostředí

Abstract

The article reports the results of a test of the Spiral of Silence Theory that was introducedby Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann. The real process of the spiral of silence assumes that people (in the putativeposition of a minority) do not express their opinion or join the opinion of the majority because they have a fearof isolation. Tamás Bodor has argued that the theory does not function in all tests when (1) the process is timelimited,meaning that we can observe a public debate of an actual problem only for a short time and with thecondition that the public forms two opposing opinion camps and (2) the key dependent variable is measuredin an inappropriate way (e.g. researchers interview participants using a questionnaire on the hypotheticalwillingness to speak out). The solutions used with our test were: (1) we used four controversial themes,resulting in a greater probability of finding the functional process of the increased silence of the minority,and (2) we measured the key dependent variable as speaking behaviour during the laboratory experiment.Two laboratory experiments were part of this research; the first contained 42 and the second contained 43students from the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. The experiments had the same design: (1) measuringof attitudes through a questionnaire (phase 1); (2) discussion on an internet blog (an anonymous onlineenvironment); and (3) discussion in a focus group (an offline environment). The first half of the respondentsdiscussed anonymously online (phase 2) and thereafter offline (phase 4), and the other half participated in theexperiment in the reverse order of environments. We measured attitudes again in phase 3 and at the end of theexperiment (phase 5). The article investigates whether participants with minority attitudes are more frequentlysilent and how this relationship is moderated by fear of isolation and by the communication environment. Ourresults prove that the probability a participant will speak her opinion rises in an anonymous online environment.The results support the Spiral of Silence Theory – participants expressing minority attitudes are more frequentlysilent, but only when they express higher fear of isolation. Participants expressing lower fear of isolation arenot influenced by minority or majority attitudes regarding the speaking of their opinion. Finally, the maincontribution of our paper is the experimental replication of results obtained through hypothetical measures.