Communicating Through Silence: Case Study of Spiral of Silence Theory

At work, there are times when the managing director may decide to change a policy without consulting the employees. This happened at my work place when the manager decided that it would a policy that we work for ten hours rather than the eight hours we had been used to. Several of us did accept these changes but some were against the changes but they could not be able to express their thought in a public manner (Clinton, 2006).

In our family set up such situations do happen too, when the parent has issued an instruction that some of the children are not happy with but they cannot be able to say their grievances aloud for one fear, the fear that they will be punished for being defiant (Clinton, 2006). At work place the fear is quite different but same, what do I mean? It is the fear that they may be unsupported by the rest of the employees, and that they may end up in isolation and therefore may be targeted by the administration, it is also a means of saving their job through avoiding making statements in public.

In fact I had a problem with this policy but I could not even whisper this fact to any of my colleagues. There is usually a tendency to avoid communication, and we fail to demand whatever what we feel is right in the guise of maintaining the status quo. Through this style of saving face, we make communication arduous; this study therefore looks at how we pretend to communicate through spiral of silence theory and how this ends up affecting our day to day life. In this study I will majorly base the argument on my own experience. I will use the spiral of silence theory to discuss those damages in communication that can be caused through silence. There will also be recommendation on how to communicate at the end of this paper.

Spiral of Silence Theory

This theory was developed by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann during the Nazi period when Hitler had dominated everything and the Jews needed to be silent due to the fear of separation and isolation. This theory has got three main axioms that were being expressed by

Neumann in her theory (DeFleur & Rokeach, 2012).

The Opinion Expressed and dominated by the mass media which was believed to be true. It is this kind of opinion that could not be challenged. This kind of opinion exerts pressure on the people with different opinion but is not allowed to make this opinion known, they stay pressed with the opinion and they have nowhere to go to (DeFleur & Rokeach, 2012). In most organization set up it leads one to quit rather than to ask for the wrath of isolation.

At the centre of the theory are the people who are opposed to the opinion that is being expressed by the media. This people are a continuum, from a range that is highly opposed to the opinion to those who are lowly opposed to the opinion. Therefore the external and internal pressure will be high on the individual depending on how much he/she is opposed to the general opinion (DeFleur & Rokeach, 2012).

The third axiom is the interpersonal support for the behavior or opinion that is deviant. It is this internal feeling that makes an individual feel that the opinion of the majority as advocated for by the mass media is not right. The fact that if they express this opinion publicly they will be isolated pushes them further from the general opinion by the mass. It is this force that pushes in the opposite direction with the opinion expressed by the dominant mass media. The people at the center of the two axioms are therefore in a spiral spun that keeps rotating there mind even as they are torn between complying and complaining a loud.

Background

At Greyhound, we offer transport services to different destinations in the country. It is my job to enter book the seat for the customers, in the online department. This company is headed by the managing director who is responsible for making almost all of the decisions within the company. We always work in harmony, and we respect the decisions that he makes, but there are certain decisions that he makes without consulting that may end up not going down well with most of us (Littlejohn, 2013).

Two months ago, as I was sitting at my desk, going through my normal duties, I was hit with a mail, stating that it was an order that we would be working ten hours, away from the normal eight hours as it had always been. This did not amuse me, the contract that I had signed when I came into the company had indicated that I was to work for eight hours, and any more work past the eight hours would be treated as overtime (Littlejohn, 2013). The manager had contravened that clause when he single handedly increased the number of hours that we were supposed to work. I indeed felt aggrieved; this is not how things should be done.

My colleagues were just as amused as I was, but they could not question this decision as they had that internal fear that they would end up losing their jobs for questioning the opinion of their superior. I had this concerns too, this was the job I had looked for with a lot of hardship, and here an opportunity had come for me to be sacked. There was this temptation that came to me most of the time to question this decision, but I could not because I felt maybe I would remain alone. This pressure was too much and at one point I had to go straight to the manager and I told him my opinion. And when he convened a meeting out my concern, many people did stand up and ask the same questions that they had failed to ask initially.

Analysis

The spiral of silence theory highlights failed communication that comes about due to fear. Even though this is a mode of avoiding confrontation, it is not effective in helping people working in a system to ask simple questions that concerns there safety and well being. Through the use of this style of communication, people are not helping the other party or themselves (Ting-Toomey, 2009). They are just staying away from the simple logic that they would have come clear with and tell of their aggressors.

Spiral of Silence theory is a dynamic process which is more concerned about the opinion of the majority rather than the opinion of the minority with a right. Fear of isolation is real in this social environment that we are in, and being part of minority leads to lost confidence and we decide to mute even when it is logical to raise a concern. The opinion of the minority at times is withdrawn from the public opinion so that they can be able to suit the general opinion of the majority yet they would have been better off expressing themselves. The only advantage of this theory is that it is important during public opinion campaigns (Ting-Toomey, 2009).

Recommendation

Through raising this concern with the manager, I was able to understand that many people suffer from spiral of silence effect; they are silenced by fear even when they can be able to raise their concerns. It is therefore important to deal with this effect through doing that thing which we fear the most. In this case, I was more afraid of losing my job more than anything. But the internal pressure was too much, it was pushing me more than the fact that I would work more hours without increased payments. It was therefore important that I conquer this fear through talking, through walking to the manager and giving him my part of the story, what exactly I was feeling. I believe that after what I was able to do, the courage that I was able to show, many of my colleague can be able to communicate when they are faced with situations that make them fear the consequences of speaking out when the opinion of the manager is seen as superior.