The definition of public opinion is very diverse, and people are aware of the importance of public opinion, but they have never reached a consensus on what public opinion is. Just like other social sciences, the definition of public opinion determines its development. One definition is that public opinion refers to the consensus of most people in a certain social scope, which eliminates the differences of individual opinions and reflects social perception and collective consciousness.
However, some scholars believe that public opinion is a basically consistent opinion or attitude expressed by the public on specific social affairs in a specific time and space. In the definition of public opinion, the most important thing to discuss is whether the ontology of public opinion is "opinion" or "attitude".
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No matter how to define public opinion, "opinion" is always the core of public opinion research, that is, the ontology of public opinion, and the spread of public opinion focuses on the flow of opinions. Views usually define themselves by comparing with attitudes, beliefs and values, especially attitudes. Social psychologists define opinions as the oral expression of certain attitudes, beliefs or values.
Usually, scholars distinguish attitudes and opinions from two aspects: opinions are generally regarded as language or other obvious responses to a specific stimulus (a problem), while attitudes are more basic general tendencies, that is, making favorable or unfavorable responses to general stimuli.
The viewpoint mainly depends on the situation at that time, and attitude plays a more lasting role in many cases. Secondly, the viewpoint is considered to be more rational and somewhat lacking in emotion in composition. Attitude is a direct and intuitive orientation, while opinion is a rational choice after careful consideration among various alternatives in a social matrix.
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