Public opinion: deciphering the concept.
Everyone thinks about him - both the poorest and most dependent, and those who climbed to the heights of power (they, perhaps, in the first place). Sometimes it does not allow us to show individuality, and sometimes it keeps us from crime.
Public opinion. Such a familiar, but if you think about it, such a vague concept! Everyone, pronouncing it, puts some meaning into these words. The only exceptions are probably professionals - psychologists and sociologists, who can easily name all stages of the formation of public opinion, tell you how mass consciousness and public opinion are similar and how they differ, and most importantly - explain how it is possible to influence the thoughts of millions of people.
Agree, the study of public opinion is both interesting and useful. Let's try to understand the essence of this contradictory phenomenon. To do this, we will have to turn not to psychology, as usual, but to another science. Still, public opinion is a topic developed more in sociology than in any other field of knowledge.
What it is
And where do you begin to understand it, this essence of public opinion? Of course, with a definition. There are three similar terms: mass consciousness, public opinion and public consciousness.
The social consciousness is wider than the mass one, and is not just a collection of many individual consciousnesses. It is a complex structure built from different levels(say, theoretical, ideological, everyday) and forms (legal, scientific, religious) of consciousness.
And finally, our third term. The concept of public opinion is interpreted by different researchers in different ways, let's focus on the most common definition. This is a state (other sources say - a form) of mass consciousness, where the attitude of human communities to situations and processes that concern their interests is manifested explicitly or implicitly.
The structure of public opinion is quite simple.
- The rational component is knowledge about the problem.
- Emotional - feelings and experiences that the problem awakens; tastes, predilections that affect its perception.
- Volitional (or behavioral) - actions to resolve the problem.
The formation of public opinion on one issue takes a few days, on another - years. But, one way or another, there are certain stages that must go through in order for this process to take place. It can even be compared with human life: birth, existence, death. Judge for yourself.
Then the opinion functions - it becomes able to resist the authorities or organizations or assist them in solving a particular problem. At the recession stage, the problem loses its relevance: either it is solved, or it is impossible to do something with it, or something has appeared that in this moment occupies more society. The last stage is death. As public opinion, the position really dies and turns into disparate assessments of individual groups.
Why is it of interest
Studies of this phenomenon are especially relevant in the era in which we all now live. Why?
Finally, a special role in modern world played by the media and the Internet. For them, the opinion of readers, viewers, users is especially valuable. Tastes target audience- the first thing that editors consider when a future issue of a program or issue of a magazine is being formed. The situation can also be viewed from the other side. Not only newspapers, radio and television adapt to the tastes of their audience.
Methodology sociological research on this topic includes well-known and long-used methods of study in many sciences: experiment, observation, survey, analysis of documents ... Special sociometric methods are also used.
What role does it play in society
1. The essence of the regulatory role of public opinion is that thanks to it, rules of conduct are developed, and it also helps to monitor their implementation in relations of different scales. Whether it's two individuals, a person and a group, a group and society.
2. The educational function stems from the previous one. All of us (some more, some less) always compare our actions with accepted standards, thus cultivating a sense of responsibility in ourselves. In this sense, dependence on public opinion is not at all bad, on the contrary.
4. The evaluation function is obvious. Public opinion, as its concept clearly testifies, expresses the attitude of the masses to this or that fact of reality.
5. The function of control lies in the fact that the position of society works (at least it should work) as a control mechanism for social organizations, institutions, individuals endowed with power, forcing them to carry out their activities taking into account public views.
In some sources, this list may look slightly different, but in general, there should not be very many differences. Author: Evgenia Bessonova
What is Public Opinion? The meaning of the word "Public Opinion" in popular dictionaries and encyclopedias, examples of the use of the term in everyday life.
Meaning of "Public Opinion" in dictionaries
Public Opinion - Philosophical Dictionary
A way of existence of mass consciousness, in which the attitude (hidden or explicit) of various groups of people to the events and processes of real life that affects their interests and needs is manifested. The formation and development of public opinion occurs either purposefully, under the influence of political institutions and social institutions (political parties, mass media, etc.) on the mass consciousness, or spontaneously - under the direct influence of life circumstances, specific experience and traditions. In any case, there is a regulation of the behavior of the individual, social groups in relation to the decision to support and reject certain ideas, values, norms. practically operates in all spheres of society, but does not speak out on any occasion. As a rule, only those problems, events, facts that are of public interest, are relevant and, in principle, allow for a multi-valued interpretation and the possibility of discussion, fall into the field of view of public opinion. According to its structure, public opinion can be monistic, unanimous (forms of totalitarianism, autocracy; Nietzsche’s about a “dummy” thinking only according to a general template; representatives of dystopia wrote about thoughtless performers, unanimous approval) and pluralistic (open democratic societies), consisting of a number of conflicting points of view. in different specific situations turns out to be in varying degrees adequate to the real state of things - it can contain both true, realistic, and false, illusory ideas about the actual state of things. To a large extent, the development of public opinion as an institution depends on the state of public consciousness, culture, on the degree of assimilation by society of democratic values, rights and freedoms, and above all freedom of the press, expression of opinion - meetings, rallies, as well as guarantees of the effectiveness of public opinion. –
sociological dictionary
(public opinion and opinion polls) - expressions of positions on political problems or current affairs by members of society. Since the advent of the opinion policy introduced by George Gallup, the term refers primarily to the statements of opinion collected in model reviews. As Habermas (1962) pointed out, public opinion has a different meaning depending on whether it is brought into play on the grounds that political and social power should be subject to public discourse, discussion, or simply to be manipulated in the interests of government or powerful institutions. Hamas' position is that modern societies the critical content of "public opinion" is often dissolved. See also Public sphere.
This is one of my favorite topics, because for people, public opinion is so important that they are ready to go out of their way to form it properly. Public opinion really makes sense if you're going to use that opinion for your own purposes, like gaining support. But if you worry about public opinion just because it makes you uncomfortable, then you definitely have problems with the right worldview. What is public opinion in general, how can we define such a concept? Someone will say that this is collective thinking or the point of view of the majority, as if uniting the consciousness of people into a single whole. Only now there is no this single whole, there is no opinion of the majority, and there is no collective thinking, there is only a herd instinct that controls it all. In fact, there is only the point of view of one person who convinces the rest to accept it.
There is the opinion of one person, which is taken on faith by the rest and accepted as their own, and there is the decision of one person, which again is the basis for the decisions of other people. That is, if society has an opinion about your personality, then there is someone who formed it in this way. Well, not everyone will suddenly think the same way, even though we are brought up in this way. One way or another, we see each situation, like each person, in our own way, and we also give our definition to a person. But not everyone has the courage to express their own point of view exclusively. And therefore, sometimes it’s easier to accept someone else’s point of view than to dare to express your own, otherwise, God forbid, you will set others against you.
That is why society is dominated by the point of view of the most courageous and convincing people who take responsibility for the so-called public opinion, which cannot be called anything other than a stereotype taken on faith. Yes, many even have no idea why they think the way they think, why they have a certain opinion about this or that person, and why do they generally believe that they have their own opinion, different from someone else's? This is not an easy question, at least for those who try to be like others in everything, who are not confident enough in themselves. So it turns out that being a victim of public opinion, you are actually a victim of the opinion of one person who imposed it on others. And if you dig deeper, then the blame for such an opinion will ultimately fall on you, as a person who is not self-confident enough, who allows himself to be manipulated not by society, as it may seem to him, but simply by another person.
Changing public opinion about their personality is essentially a technical task, people will believe what sounds more convincing than looks more plausible. As for simply not giving a damn about public opinion, which is very unstable, this is certainly a very wise way to not bother yourself with unnecessary thoughts about those who do not deserve it. But this is only in the case when you really do not depend in some way on that society, whose opinion can be used in your interests or against you. For example, for a presidential candidate, it is extremely important to form a positive opinion of the society about himself, although by definition he doesn’t give a damn about him, for him people are only means to achieve his goal.
And I advise you to adhere to the same position, because if you do not impose your point of view on society, thereby forming its opinion, then someone else will do it, playing on the interests of this society. And if you yourself understand that the opinion of each person reflects, first of all, his own interests, then you must also understand that there are only two options for public opinion: either it is imposed on him by you and reflects your interests, or it does not suit you at all. what, because it is no longer interesting for you. Public opinion also does not reflect the interests of society in fact, as a variable value, this opinion from time to time plays in the interests of different people who know how to form it.
So think after that, is there any point in even thinking about what others will think about you or what they will say about you, because no matter what they think and say, you depend little on it. If there is still an addiction, then you need to work in terms of your own growth, becoming more self-confident and introducing your understanding of things into the consciousness of the people around you. So, you know, it's much more interesting than constantly adjusting to the opinion of those who don't even know what it is.
cumulative value judgment expressing the attitude of the team, social. community (or a significant part of them) to various events and phenomena of the surrounding reality, affecting common interests. In the process of education, it acts as a type of indirect requirement and a criterion for the formation of a children's team.
Great Definition
Incomplete definition ↓
PUBLIC OPINION
1) the mode of existence of mass consciousness, in which the attitude (hidden or explicit) of various groups of people to the events and processes of real life that affects their interests and needs is manifested. The formation and development of public opinion occurs either purposefully, under the influence of political institutions and social institutions (political parties, mass media) on the mass consciousness, or spontaneously - under the direct influence of life circumstances, specific experience and traditions. In any case, there is a regulation of the behavior of the individual, social groups in relation to the decision to support or reject certain ideas, values, norms. Public opinion operates in almost all spheres of society, but it does not express itself for any reason. As a rule, only those problems, events, facts that are of public interest, are relevant and, in principle, allow for a multi-valued interpretation and the possibility of discussion, fall into the field of view of public opinion. Public opinion in various specific situations is to varying degrees adequate to the real state of affairs - it can contain both true, realistic, and false, illusory ideas about the actual state of things. To a large extent, the development of public opinion as an institution depends on the state of public consciousness, culture, on the degree of assimilation by society of democratic values, rights and freedoms, and above all freedom of the press, expression of opinion - meetings, rallies, as well as guarantees of the effectiveness of public opinion; 2) ped. a method of self-organization of pedagogical stimulation that provides support and development of socially useful activities and the manifestation of the moral qualities of pupils through the fulfillment of moral requirements, setting and implementing socially significant prospects, moral assessment of the behavior of team members. In public opinion, the educational functions of the collective are most fully realized. Ways of expressing public opinion - publicity, through the information organs of the collective, the actions of the organizers elected by the collective.
Allowing you to penetrate into the content of the social activity of groups of people.
Public opinion in sociology is understood as a specific manifestation of public consciousness, expressed in assessments and characterizing the overt or covert attitude of large social groups towards topical issues reality. The social consciousness itself is a holistic spiritual phenomenon that has a certain internal structure, including various levels (theoretical and everyday) and forms of consciousness (political and legal consciousness, morality, religion, art, philosophy, science). The bearer of public opinion are large social groups (nations, peoples, social strata).
IN ordinary life"public opinion" has this meaning: the opinion of a certain group of people on any issue, shared and expressed by a significant part of this group.
IN social psychology the concept of "public opinion" is understood as a collective value judgment about socially significant problems.
In the theory of public relations, public opinion is understood as a collective value judgment of a particular group of the public about socially significant problems, in which its attitude to events and facts related to the activities of the basic subject is manifested.
Based on this, it is possible to single out the features of public opinion from the point of view of PR theory.
Features of public opinion:
1. Its bearers are public groups.
2. Considered in conjunction with a specific basic subject.
Thus, the main essential feature of public opinion in various theoretical concepts is that this concept reflects group value judgments on current events, phenomena and facts. This circumstance makes it possible to take into account general patterns public opinion in the theory of PR, which are reflected primarily in the content, structure and mechanisms of its formation.
Public opinion management in PR activities is a process organized on the basis of knowledge about the object of management. The basis of such knowledge is sociological and social - psychological knowledge about the content of public opinion, its structure and mechanisms of formation.
The subjects of public opinion in PR are social groups, and the object of public opinion are events, processes, phenomena and facts that are directly related to the activities of PR subjects.
Functions of public opinion:
1) Control function. Regardless of the conditions in which public opinion has to function, it always takes a certain position on certain facts, events in the life of society;
2) Advisory function. Giving advice on how to solve certain problems;
3) Directive function. Based on public opinion, state structures can take certain decisions in support of it, for example, give a legislative character to a referendum;
4) Evaluative function (axiological). Through the PO, the public approves or condemns the actions of a political leader, social group, parties.
5) Expressive
6) Regulatory;
7) Analytical and others.
Verbal and non-verbal expression of public opinion is explained by its structure.
There are three main components in the structure of public opinion:
Rational- the basis is knowledge about the object. Wherein special meaning have completeness, reliability and accuracy of knowledge about the object of public opinion. In PR activities, information plays an important role in shaping a positive public opinion in relation to the basic subject. For example, if an organization acts as a basic subject, then information about the organization itself, its management, activities, products, and external organizational relations will be essential.
Emotional- the basis is emotional perception object and emotional experiences that manifest themselves in collective (group) feelings and moods. Collective (group) feelings as certain experiences and collective (group) moods as a general emotional long-term state of people can have a positive or negative direction, which in turn will manifest itself in verbal and especially non-verbal value judgments.
strong-willed- the basis is the public will and the will of individuals included in the subject of public opinion. Will as an element of the human psyche is the ability to choose the goal of activity and the internal efforts necessary for its implementation. The volitional component is directly related to the rational and emotional components.
The rational and emotional components of public opinion, revealing the essence of the object of public opinion and making its social assessment, thereby form a certain volitional orientation of the subject of public opinion in relation to its object. The public will is directly realized in various forms mass behavior of the subject of public opinion.
