If you’ve ever been in a room at work where someone confidently voiced an opinion you disagreed strongly with, but felt too afraid to speak up, you’re not alone. Initially proposed by German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann in 1974, “Spiral of Silence” refers to the tendency to remain silent when people feel that their views are in opposition to the majority view on a topic. This silence can have serious ramifications for individuals in a law firm and the firm itself.
For individuals, the “Spiral of Silence” can mean workers don’t feel comfortable sharing their opinion or voicing concerns about how they or others are being treated. This allows mistreatment and biases to go unchecked at an individual level and can also result in a secondary spiral in which workers feel they are not able to fully express their personal identity in the workplace. Such employees are stuck in a terrible position, where they feel that expressing their opinions could negatively affect workplace cohesion but saying nothing increases their own feelings of isolation and reduces their sense of genuine belonging.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
