Editing Pluralistic ignorance (section)

=== Spiral of silence ===
The parallel between pluralistic ignorance and the [[spiral of silence]] comes from their joint interest in the reasoning behind the shift in public opinion perceptions in relation to the public's genuine attitudes.<ref name="Donsbach-2014" /> When viewing pluralistic ignorance through a social perspective, one can assess how it is caused through misinformation that is shared broadly by those who are highly visible.<ref name="Donsbach-2014" /> This is where the concept of visibility becomes most important in understanding the intertwined web of pluralistic ignorance and the spiral of silence.<ref name="Donsbach-2014" />

When a group stands out by way of making the most noise or causing the most chaos, this can give the impression that the group is more influential than they actually are.<ref name="Donsbach-2014" /> The spiraling process is initiated by the most visible and expressed opinions being shared loudly and publicly, while the genuine and differing opinions of the group are not expressed (or not on the same scale), causing a misleading depiction of the group's true attitudes and beliefs.<ref name="Donsbach-2014" /> Thus, pluralistic ignorance gives way to a shift in the [https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_406 climate of opinion], which then causes the spiral of silence to perpetuate as those who view their attitudes and beliefs as the minority opinion (when they might not be) choose to remain silent.<ref name="Donsbach-2014" />