• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.149-177
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• 2022

This study analyzes how inoculation affects the spiral of silence. Inoculation could be a beneficial tool in a democracy as it elevates citizens' resistance to attitude change "forced" by "the winning opinion" in the spiral of silence on a certain controversial issue. The study examines essential variables combined with the theories of inoculation and spiral of silence, such as resistance to counter-attitudinal attack, fear of isolation, and issue-involvement. A two-wave field experiment was employed to assess the formation of public opinion on Taiwan's political future with the People's Republic of China. Results support that inoculation enhanced people's resistance to attitude change and decreased their fear of isolation. Individuals who are more issue-involved were also shown to be more affected by inoculation, which allowed them to resist attitude change. The decreased fear of isolation, coupled with more issue involvement, might elevate people's willingness to speak out in public. More political discussions regarding an important public issue might be expected in a democracy.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.286-297
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• 2020

This study explores how fear of isolation and willingness to speak out are affected by cultural values. The cross-cultural studies on the spiral of silent theory were conducted mostly in Eastern and Western countries and compared the results. It attributed to the results to the "individualist-collective" attitude difference. However, it did not explain the differences in the same individualism societies as well as in the collectivism societies. Thus, this study examined the impact of cultural values on the spiral of silence theory with 'individualism-collectivism' and 'uncertainty-avoidance'. To that end, the current study conducted online surveys in India, South Korea, the United States and Spain where have different levels of individualism, collectivism, and uncertainty-avoidance. As a result, individualism contributed to lower the fear of isolation, and collectivism and uncertainty avoidance have raised the fear of isolation. Besides, individualism and uncertainty avoidance also reinforce the willingness to speak out, while fear of social isolation has been shown to weaken the willingness to speak out. The study also found that fear of isolation has the mediated effect of individualism and collectivism on the willingness to speak out.

• Survey Research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.87-100
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• 2008

We calculated the predictive interval for the number of seats belonging to major political parties in the case of the 2004 General Election of Korea, using Bayesian frame of inference. Moreover, we proposed the adjustment procedure for correcting the minor group's propensity of refusal or nonresponse due to effect of the spiral of silence.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.62
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• pp.74-94
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• 2013

The purpose of the thesis is to find out the correlation between Chinese 'Personal Opinion Expression on Offline' and 'Personal Opinion Expression on Online'(Hypothesis 1) and between 'Save Face' and 'Personal Opinion Expression on Offline', 'Personal Opinion Expression on Online'(Hypothesis 2). It also analyzes and verifies the impact of 'Save Face' among 'Personal Opinion Expression on Offline', and 'Personal Opinion Expression on Online'(Hypothesis 3). The results of this study shows that correlation between 'behavior of opinion expression on Offline' and 'behavior of opinion expression on Online'. Chinese people who express their views in the public, tend to express their opinions on the Online. The thesis also covers that 'Silence' can be caused not only by 'Personal Fear of Isolation', but also by 'Save Face' upon 'The Spiral of Silence a Theory' by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, and prove that 'Save Face' relatively affects 'People talk about their observation'. It also confirms that 'Save Face in Open Space', a factor of 'Save Face's, performs a partial channel on 'Personal Opinion Expression on Online' and 'Personal Opinion Expression on Offline'.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.39
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• pp.284-323
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• 2007

This study aims to examine the relation between opinion perception and opinion expression by issue types by analyzing online poll results and respective bulletin boards. To find out how opinion poll results affect the public opinion perception cues and opinion expression through the internet, the study applied a method of content analysis to the online contents provided by Naver.com, one of the most popular portal sites in Korea. A total of four issue types, along with 2,250 messages were chosen for analysis. The study results revealed that internet users perceived opinion atmosphere through the poll results and expressed their opinions depending on the issue types. In case of an issue where majority views are manifested as online poll results, users tended to follow that majority views by retaining their initial opinion. Majority opinion by the poll results held a dominant position in bulletin board. The results partially support Noelle-Neuman(1994)'s spiral of silence theory in the context of computer-mediated communication contrary to the belief that anonymity in the cyberspace tends to encourage participation of minority opinion group. According to the findings, people when they perceive their opinion as that of minority are discouraged to express their views even when they are online.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.434-445
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• 2015

In reading news stories online, people are exposed to others' comments to a news story. In spite of popularity of comments to a news story online, the understanding of why and who posts a comment is still lacking. To complement scarcity and have a better understanding of comment-posting online, this study examined psychological factors which affect the likelihood of posting a comment to a news story online. In particular, three variables were considered: The first variable was communication efficacy, that is, an individual's belief about communication practices and systems, under the supposition that the people who have greater levels of communication efficacy are more likely to post a comment. The second variable was perception of public opinion, to test that when and if people judge their position of the issue as favored by the majority, they tend to post a comment. And finally, the tone of existing comments was included, to test if the tone of comments affects the willingness to post a comment. The results showed that firstly, people at a high level of communication efficacy are more likely to post a comment compared to people at the low level of communication efficacy. Secondly, the perception of public opinion partly influenced the willingness to post a comment. Especially, when people believe communication systems contribute to develop society and also when judged that their opinion is the majority's opinion, they are more likely to post a comment. Finally, the tone of the comments influenced the willingness to post a comment only on the condition that people are confident of the communication practice and are exposed to emotional comments.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.455-465
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of twitter influenctials on users' willingness on express opinions. Based on the spiral of silence and corrective action hypothesis, the contradictory hypotheses were drawn. The online expeiment was conducted to verify which hypothesis is valid. Participant were assigned to the four experimenatal conditons: a famous influential's twit which agrees with the issue; a famous influential's twit which disagrees with the issue; an ordinary influential's twit to agree with the issue; an ordinary influential's twit to disagree with the issue. Results showed that opinion congruency with a twitter influential did not influence participants' willingness to express opinion online and offline, but the interaction effect with the type of influentials was found. Opinion dissonance with an ordinary tiwtterian increased willingness to express opinion. The findings suggest that twitter influentials, particulary an ordinary influentials with differnet opinions, can motivate users to express their own opinion.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.42
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• pp.168-204
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• 2008

According to the spiral of silence theory, perception of opinion climates influences willingness to express one's opinion. This study examines the relationship between opinion perception and opinion expression in different regions and issues. The results show that one's opinion and the intensity of opinion affect the expression of opinion about national and regional issues in Busan and Gwangju. People who perceive their opinions as majority are more willing to express theirs about national and regional issues in Gwangju, but not in Busan. Regression analyses show that perceived public opinion does not predict the expression of opinion in both cities. People who perceive their opinions more favorable about regional issue have lower intention to express their opinions than people who perceive their opinions same as others'. In summary, one's opinion and perception bias about controversial issues are important variables influencing expression of opinion, and the influence of perceived public opinion on opinion expression varies in different regions with different distribution of public opinion. This study found 'new hardcores' who perceive their own opinion as minor but more valuable and have the intention to speak out in places more difficult to express.