The Effect of Personality on the Spiral of Silence Process

국문 초록 (Abstract)

세 가지 종류의 성격 개념(권위주의적 성격, 독립적 자아해석, 상호의존적 자아해석)이 침묵의 나선 과정에 미치는 영향을 조사하였다. 연구에서 사용된 세 가지의 논쟁적인 주제는 낙태, 차별 철폐 조치, 사형제도였다(n=714). 본 연구 결과, 자신이 소수의 의견에 속한다고 인지할 때 더욱 침묵하게 된다는 침묵의 나선 이론의 가설은 지지되지 않았다. 즉, 본 연구에 참여한 사람들은 세 가지 논쟁적 주제에 대해 자신의 의견이 소수라고 느낄 때 더욱 자신의 의견을 적극적으로 표현하는 경향을 보였다. 위계적 회귀분석을 이용한 분석 결과, 세 가지의 성격적 특성은 블록으로서 낙태와 사형제도에서 공개적 의견 표현을 예측하는 유의한 변인이었다. 모든 쟁점에 있어서 성격적 특성이 보이는 일반적인 패턴은 상호의존적 자아해석은 공적인 장소에서의 솔직한 의사표현과 부적인 관계를 보이며, 독립적 자아해석은 공적인 장소에서의 솔직한 의사표현과 정적인 관계를 보인다는 것이었다. 성격과 의견 일치도의 상호작용 효과를 알아본 결과, 상호의존적 자아해석을 하는 사람들일수록 여론의 변화에 더욱 민감하게 반응했다. 즉, 이들은 여론이 자신의 의견과 다를 때는 침묵하고 여론이 자신의 의견과 같을 때는 자신의 의견을 표명하는 경향을 보였다. 반면, 독립적인 자아해석을 하는 사람들은 여론이 자신의 의견과 다를 때 오히려 자신의 의견 표명에 적극적이었다. 본 연구는 성격과 같은 개인적 수준의 특성을 이용하여 침묵의 나선 현상을 더욱 심층적으로 검증할 수 있다는 가능성을 보여주었다. 마지막으로, 본 연구의 함의에 대해서 논의하였다.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The effect of three personality constructs (authoritarian personality, independent self-construal, and interdependent self-construal) were investigated in the spiral of silence process. Three controversial topics used in the study (n=714) were abortion, affirmative action, and capital punishment. The findings of the study did not support the main thesis of the spiral of silence theory that people would speak out when they perceive the opinion climate to be congruent with their own opinions. The results showed that people became more outspoken when they were in the minority in the three controversial topics. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that, as a block, three personality types were significant predictors of public outspokenness in abortion and capital punishment. The general pattern of individual personality types across topics indicated that interdependent self-construal negatively associated with public outspokenness and independent self-construal positively associated with public outspokenness. In the interaction terms between personality and opinion congruence, except for the abortion issue, interdependent people were more sensitive to the fluctuation of the opinion climate by becoming silent in the incongruent opinion climate and speaking out in the congruent opinion climate. On the other hand, independent individuals were more likely to be outspoken when the opinion climate was incongruent. This study demonstrated the possibility of examining the spiral of silence phenomenon in more detail through individual-level characteristics such as personality. Finally, implications of the study were discussed.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• ABSTRACT
• Ⅰ. INTRODUCTION
• Ⅱ. LITERATURE REVIEW AND HYPOTHESES
• Ⅲ. METHOD
• Ⅳ. RESULTS
• Ⅴ. DISCUSSIONS AND LIMITATIONS
• REFERENCES
• 〈국문초록〉
• 저자소개

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