The Sounds of Silence: Inferences from the Absence of Word‐of‐Mouth

While past work has explored some of the reasons why people themselves may remain silent in a group, almost no research has examined the mirror image of this question: How do consumers construe the silence of others? Do they project the opinions of the speakers in a conversation onto the silent individuals, assuming that silence signals agreement? Do they have a usual or “default” naïve theory of silence that they use to explain it across multiple contexts—i.e., “silence usually signals disagreement?” Or does silence act as a mirror, reflecting observers’ own opinions back at them? Three experiments contrasted perceivers’ estimates of conversational silence with their estimates of unknown opinions outside the conversation. Estimates of opinions outside the conversation generally followed an agreement‐with‐the‐speakers rule—the more an opinion was expressed in the group, the more consumers assumed others would support it too. In contrast, silence inside the conversation was interpreted very differently, serving as a mirror for participants’ own thoughts, even when the vocal majority favored the opposite position. Results suggest a process whereby observers project the reason they personally would have been silent in the group (given their opinion) onto silence, leading to an inference that the silents agree with the self.     

Opinion Climates in Social Media: Blending Mass and Interpersonal Communication

Social media's capacity for users to generate, comment on, and forward content (including mass media messages) to other users has created new forms of mass interpersonal communication. These systems render observable processes underlying the formation of opinion climates. Five attributes of contemporary electronic opinion environments can alter the way users gauge, form, and express opinions on topics of public interest: the juxtaposition of mass media and user‐generated content, ideological homogeneity and heterogeneity of online networks, technical ease with which to express opinions, the reach of messages, and networked audiences. These attributes facilitate analysis of theoretical and empirical works from different scholarly traditions, suggesting lines of inquiry that can enrich the analysis of (public) opinion formation via current communication technologies.     

Sebastian Rodrigues in Shusaku Endo's Silence as a Theologian of the Cross1

In his book, On Being a Theologian of the Cross, Gerhard Forde asserts, “[T]he theology of the cross is an offensive theology. The offense consists in the fact that unlike other theologies it attacks what we usually consider the best in our religion.” If causing an offense against Christian theologians and the populace in general is considered a criterion for this theology, Shusaku Endo surely sets forth the theology of the cross in his novel, Silence. Although he would not identify his thesis by such a term, Endo presents the theology of the cross challenging the conventional understanding of the Christian faith. This short article explores Endo's book, Silence, examines how it demonstrates an articulation of the theology of the cross, and argues that Sebastian Rodrigues, the main character of the novel, is a theologian of the cross.     

Silence and Memories of War: An Autoethnographic Exploration of Family Secrecy

A personal journey and a scientific challenge, this is an autoethnographic study about my own family's secrecy. I knew my grandfather had been a German prisoner of war during World War II. We all knew. But nobody talked about it. Then one day I decided I wanted to do systematic research on the issue of family secrecy around my grandfather's war experiences. Researching one's own family can be called autoethnography. It could be said that autoethnography is an approach to research that aims to describe and systemically analyze (graphy) personal experience (auto) to understand social and cultural phenomena (ethno). This scientific approach is quite new in the field of family therapy. This study has been an important personal quest, but it also led to important reflections on silences in families, on my own professional development, and on methodological issues concerning autoethnographical research. For one thing, it highlights some of the positive aspects of family secrecy and silences, and invites us—when confronted with family secrecy in clinical practice—to carefully consider the potential destructive and life‐giving aspects of the silence.     

A tale and its tale

Once upon a time there was a little girl who had woken from a sleep so deep that it had lasted many moons”. Drawing on first generation post-war experiences in Germany, I construct a fairy tale in which I begin to trouble silences surrounding familial and national historiographical lacunae. With such tales positioned on the threshold of conscious experiences and embodied unconscious knowledge, I reflectively draw on psychoanalytic theory to consider silences as reminders of uncanny returns of what has been suppressed.     

Missing

Wartime experience in Britain during World War Two left thousands of empty spaces where once buildings and streets had been. It simultaneously left gaps in families, often with far-reaching consequences. In this paper, I reflect on one such case in my own family. I examine how the devastating loss of a particular family member as a consequence of an unlucky combination of time and place played into a silent history of earlier losses connected to physical migration, experiences which had traumatic impact decades later. The interweaving of physical place, space, and gaps, with their emotional and unconscious counterparts is explored in a narrative which also traces their ripple effect through time. As part of this meditation on my family's history, I draw on research on the impact later in life of early childhood experience of maternal depression, and on studies concerning the emotional impact of migration.     

Ethics in the Pulpit?

Abstract: What is the place of ethics and politics in the pulpit—especially in the post September 11th United States? This article argues that preachers must learn to bring the deepest wisdom of the biblical texts to bear on the most intractable issues of the present. Scripture gives preachers insight into the “ethics of God” and empowers them to step beyond a hermeneutics of narcissism. Silence and Attention prepare the preacher to hear the Word of God, and prayerful listening is crucial to seeing and hearing where God may be working in the present moment. In this way preachers help facilitate the conversation between the congregation and God and this conversation continues after the sermon. Politics should not take over the pulpit or be entirely absent from it. Discernment is the key. Regardless of political standing, all preachers have the obligation to bring the Word of God to bear on the problems of the world.     

Organizational silence,organizational commitment and creativity: The case of directors of Islamic Azad University of Khorasan Razavi

IntroductionToday, one issue that arose in human resource discussions is the phenomenon of organizational silence (OS).ObjectiveSince it has not been carried extensive research out on this phenomenon in Iran, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between OS and Organizational Commitment (OC) and Organizational Creativity (OCR) among managers of the Islamic Azad University of Khorasan Razavi.MethodsWe based the theoretical framework of this study on the OS scale of Morrison and Milliken (2003) and the Allen and Myers’ (1990) Three-Component OC Scale and OCR questionnaire of Randsip (1979). The questionnaire's internal reliability by Cronbach's alpha for OS, OC, and OCR was 0.81, 0.89, and 0.84 respectively. Also, 200 executives, deputies, managerial and administrative directors were tested. The Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equations were used to analyze the data.ResultsThe findings illustrate that in this organization, there is a significant and an inverse relationship between OS and OC and OCR. So, the more is the OS, the greater is the lack of OCR and OC.ConclusionThe results show that OCR is moderate and downward. OCR can be because of different factors, but is more affected by the dimensions of OC. OCR and continuous commitment could explain 0.84 of the variance of dependent variables. Also, all the research hypotheses were approved and 0.89 of the total variance of the dependent variable was illustrated in terms of effective factors.     

Travail cognitivo-émotionnel chez des patients en soins palliatifs : étude du vécu,de la réminiscence et du silence

IntroductionFacing one's own mortality allows one to be more aware of one's life history, to make the link between one's different personal experiences and to open up to introspection, be it in exchange or in silence.ObjectiveTo collect the cognitive-emotional work taking place in palliative care patients and to appreciate the use and contribution of reminiscence as well as the place of silence in the discourse.MethodOur study is cross-sectional, exploratory and qualitative. The interviews were conducted by the psychologist using an interview guide previously defined for this study. Non-verbal elements were taken into account following the interview. Nine patients, exclusively women, with an average age of 71 years, suffering from cancer, hospitalized and who were told that their curative treatments were over, were included.FindingsAfter a thematic analysis, it appears that the patients’ concerns are mainly focused on their relationship with their end of life and death. We observe a majority of negative reminiscences as well as a diversity in their contributions. The main function of silence is emotional when the themes of the end of life and illness are discussed.ConclusionIt seems necessary to support questions about the end of life and the reminiscences that may be activated following the proximity of death. Recognition of the different types of silence must also be part of the listening skills of professionals.