Measures of Attitude Strength as Predictors of Willingness to Speak to the Media

Abstract

The “spiral of silence” literature has concerned itself more with explaining why people do not speak out than with why some individuals choose to express their political views. This paper analyzes the effects of attitude strength on willingness to speak out in public, using data from four preelection surveys. Those with greater interest in politics, those who have extreme political views, and those who have paid attention to the election are more willing to be interviewed by a news reporter after a pre-election survey. Attitude strength plays a significant role in predicting willingness to express political views in all four surveys.