Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1994, Vol 39(2), 225. Reviews the book, The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion by John Zaller (1992). The author's commendable effort to specify a model of mass opinion formation offers readers an introduction to the prevailing vi

The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion.

The Web of Politics: The Internet's Impact on the American Political System

Stumbling upon news on the Internet: Effects of incidental news exposure and relative entertainment use on political engagement

The key assumption of spiral of silence theory is that opinion climate perceptions affect political opinion expression. We meta-analyzed the strength of this relationship and clarified the impact of theoretically relevant moderators. Sixty-six studies collectively including more than 27,000 participants were located. We observed a significant positive relationship (r = .10; Zr = .10) between opinion climate and opinion expression. This relationship was not weaker in online as compared with offline opinion expression environments. Also, the relationship did not vary by the number of the targets of opinion expression, the opinion of the targets, the opinion climate characteristics, and the design, measurement, and sample characteristics. The largest silencing effect (r = .34), however, was observed when participants talk to their family, friends, or neighbors about obtrusive issues. Overall, our findings suggest that the relationship between opinion climate perception and political opinion expression is str...

The “Spiral of Silence” Revisited: A Meta-Analysis on the Relationship Between Perceptions of Opinion Support and Political Opinion Expression:

This study examines how selective exposure and interpersonal political disagreement influence political polarization. Using data sets from two countries, the United States and South Korea, this stu...

Does Disagreement Mitigate Polarization? How Selective Exposure and Disagreement Affect Political Polarization

This study examined whether Twitter can serve as a public sphere where opinion leaders – in this case, journalists – speak up about politically controversial issues. Based on the theoretical framework of the spiral of silence (SOS), 118 Korean journalists from nine national newspapers and two network broadcasting companies were surveyed about their behavior on Twitter with regard to two controversial issues in South Korea. Results showed that journalists who perceived a greater discrepancy between their opinions and the opinions of Twitter users about controversial issues in South Korea were less willing to voice their opinions on Twitter; moreover, the journalists' ideology was found to be a significant factor in expressing their opinions about controversial issues on Twitter. Specifically, politically conservative journalists were more likely to perceive that their opinions were in the minority; therefore, they were less likely than politically liberal journalists to discuss their opinions on Twitter be...

The spiral of silence and journalists' outspokenness on Twitter

This study analyzes how a female candidate was presented in the news media and on her campaign website, in order to compare the politics of gender representation in news coverage and campaign communication. Content analysis of news coverage of a Korean female candidate and the candidate's website shows that the female candidate was differently portrayed in the two media in presentations of personal trait frames, the linkage between issues and personal traits, and other gender-related characteristics, although the quantity of issue frames did not differ significantly. The findings suggest that although the news coverage still tends to reinforce gender stereotypes regarding a female candidate, the candidate used or articulated gender identities in her campaign website to oppose framing stereotypes in the traditional news media.

Politics of representation in the digital media environment: presentation of the female candidate between news coverage and the website in the 2007 Korean presidential primary

Yonghwan Kim

Papers

The spiral of silence and journalists' outspokenness on Twitter

Politics of representation in the digital media environment: presentation of the female candidate between news coverage and the website in the 2007 Korean presidential primary