Spiral of Silence
Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30
CORE DEFINITION
People tend to publicly express views they believe the majority will support and suppress views they believe belong to the minority. As more people remain silent, the dominant view appears stronger, creating a vicious cycle. ### Scaffolding role: organizational communication mechanism. Excellent managers actively seek out and encourage 'silent voices.' Real problems often lie hidden among those who dare not speak up.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
Organizational communication mechanism. Excellent managers actively seek out and encourage 'silent voices.' Real problems often lie hidden among those who dare not speak up.
Anchor fast decisions
People publicly express majority views and suppress minority views; as more people remain silent, the dominant view appears stronger, further suppressing dissent, forming a self-reinforcing vicious cycle. The core is that 'fear of isolation' drives self-censorship in opinion expression.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/2Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B2%89%E9%BB%98%E8%9E%BA%E6%97%8Bverified
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