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Public opinion and political outspokenness in pre‐1997 Hong Kong: Two tests of the spiral of silence theory

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TLDR
In this article, the spiral of silence theory was tested in the context of public opinion regarding the Sino-British dispute over Hong Kong's political future and the 1995 Legislative Council election.
Abstract
This study analyses the impact of perceptions of the opinions of others on political outspokenness in Hong Kong. Based on the results of two representative telephone surveys conducted in Hong Kong in 1993 and 1995, the spiral of silence theory is tested in the context of public opinion regarding the Sino‐British dispute over Hong Kong's political future and the 1995 Legislative Council election. As hypothesized, respondents in both surveys were more willing to voice their political opinions publicly when they perceived the majority opinion to be on their side, or when they perceived a trend in support of their own political viewpoint. However, this effect was observed only for respondents who were not much concerned about either issue. People's political outspokenness was primarily boosted by higher issue salience, more exposure and attention to television news and news magazines, and higher political interest and efficacy.

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

TL;DR: The findings suggest that the relationship between opinion climate perception and political opinion expression is stronger and more robust than previously thought.
Journal ArticleDOI

A Model Linking Community Activity and Communication With Political Attitudes and Involvement in Neighborhoods

TL;DR: This article found that those most likely to rely on neighborhood newspapers as sources are less disillusioned with government, suggesting that the most "grassroots" of print media are more efficacious in their impact than the other channels.

Teori Spiral Kesunyian dan Negara Transisi Demokrasi: Sebuah Pengujian di Indonesia

Eri Yanto
TL;DR: In this article, the authors assume that spiral of silence is not suitable in the context of democratic transition countries as it emerged in developed countries that assume its citizens have media access and have achieved high education, and show that the theory is only proven in specific circumstances.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

The Spiral of Silence A Theory of Public Opinion

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors tried to substantiate empirically the process o f public opinion formation through the individual's observation of his or her social environment through Tocqueville (S), Tiinnies (9), Bryce (4), and Allport (l).
Book

The government and politics of Hong Kong

Norman Miners
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the machinery of government with its social, economic and cultural contexts in Hong Kong and described the changes that will take place in the system of government in 1997 when Hong Kong becomes a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.
Journal ArticleDOI

The influence of perceptions of media influence: third person effects and the public expression of opinions*

TL;DR: This article explored the role of perceptions of the opinions of others ais they relate to the formation of public opinion and found that people are more willing to express their opinions publicly when they perceived a trend in support of their viewpoint, or when there was a greater perceived likelihood of achieving success for their issue position.