Group feeling can positively change our behavior during the corona crisis NOW

The corona virus forces everyone to change their behavior and we are usually not very good at that. The sense of collectivity can nevertheless ensure that we can get far.

Now that the most drastic measures in the fight against the coronavirus are less than a week old, the question is to what extent we are already used to the new reality. In any case, it is quieter on the street. The place where the 1.5-meter distance guideline may be least observed is in the supermarket. Eventually you will be waiting one after the other at the cash register and 1.5 meters away can just cost you your place in line.

“The situation requires a lot of adaptation and we are not normally eager for that,” says Rick van Baaren, professor of behavioral change at Radboud University. “But now there is great fear and uncertainty and that changes the behavior. Then you can in fact do two things: go into survival mode and go for self-interest. Or you choose the sense of security of the collective, because we are herd animals. choosing between the two is a crucial turning point. “

Van Baaren explains that your behavior is strongly determined by what you see others doing. “If you have heard that it is better to stay at home but see all sorts of people on the street, this undermines the feeling of staying at home. In that respect, the government can be even clearer about what is and what is not desirable. If you set a clear standard then those people who do not adhere to the standard will automatically be seen as asos. You want collective standards instead of your own responsibility. “

The professor sees that the sense of collectivity has slowly developed. “That was a completely different story last week. At the time, people did not always take it seriously. The great uncertainty was not there yet and people do not feel the urgency.”

Not everyone knows what social distancing is

Government communication plays a key role in this. In a week’s time, we went from a press conference advising that we no longer shake hands to the decision that the catering industry would remain closed for weeks. In the meantime, the message became a little more urgent.

“That was not straightforward”, reflects professor of health psychology Denise de Ridder. “Saturday nights were still full in some cities and that does not help in getting the message across. Changing communication from the government makes it difficult to estimate what is and what is not possible. We hear the term every time.”social distancing“But we shouldn’t underestimate that not everyone knows what that means.”

According to De Ridder, clarity can help to change behavior. “Also come up with concrete actions. You can now see that in some shops: stripes are pasted on the floor that remind us of the guideline for keeping distance.”

We need to install new standards

Now that the guidelines are a few days old, De Ridder sees that the Dutch generally adhere to them. “Most are not inclined to go against the guidelines. But people keep walking around the supermarket thoughtlessly out of habit. That is not surprising, because that was normal last week. Social standards do not change from one to the other day and now we have to install new standards, as it were. But it is possible. We know it, for example, from standing in line in the bank: you keep your distance there. “

According to the professor, the group feeling leads to positive things, such as shopping for each other. “That helps each other to keep it up. For example, people are now missing their vacation or their shopping weekend, but it’s easier to give up on that sort of thing if you help other people instead. We can get meaning out of the fact that we don’t stand alone and do things that are important to us all. “

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