La opinión pública y los imaginarios sociales: hacia una redefinición de la espiral del silencio
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Rubén Dittus
Universidad Católica de la Ssma. Concepción (Chile)
This article critically examines the 'spiral of silence' theory of public opinion. I examine the claims that humans possess a biological desire for peer acceptance and a fear of peer rejection, and I argue that both these claims have an essentialist connotation. I argue that an individual's 'social self-protection', which allegedly reflects the so-called fear of isolation, is better understood as an institutional reaction sustained by the mass media (which acts as the symbolic re-creator of reality), and by the emotions (which act as devices of social control). In other words, I argue that public opinion is merely a social imaginary, like the emotions or the news, elevated to the category of institution. Finally, I argue that this legitimation has been facilitated by a hegemonic discourse.
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Dittus, Rubén. “La opinión pública y los imaginarios sociales: hacia una redefinición de la espiral del silencio”. Athenea digital, no. 7, pp. 61-76, https://raco.cat/index.php/Athenea/article/view/34168.