[ad_1]
Of: TT
Published:
Photo: Fredrik Sandberg / TT
Justice and Migration Minister Morgan Johansson (s) was seen visiting the noon sale at a shopping center in Lund this weekend. Stock Photography.
The fact that one of the government ministers ignored the advice and went on sale at noon has caused reactions. Naturally, says psychologist Gerhard Andersson.
– When we learn that a leader has ignored the rules, people react negatively, we get angry.
Justice Minister Morgan Johansson (S) was seen this weekend in a Lund shopping center. In retrospect, both Johansson and Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S) have called the visit “careless”.
In addition to the government’s call for trade before the holidays, the Swedish Public Health Agency has issued recommendations to avoid shopping malls.
And it can have consequences when a government representative chooses not to follow the recommendations communicated to him by the government and government agencies.
– When it comes to leaders, our representatives, our elected representatives, it’s a bit sensitive when they don’t show that they “take one for the team” and sacrifice their own interest, says Gerhard Andersson, professor of psychology at Linköping University.
“The captain must stay”
Even those who can imagine breaking the recommendations hope that our representatives will set a good example, says Gerhard Andersson.
– It is not just that they are expected to show that they are a role model, it is the simple explanation. I think it goes deeper than that, we want to see that they also sacrifice something when we are expected to.
The opposite can provoke anger.
– I think this is deeply ingrained in humans when it comes to our leaders, the captain should stay in the boat when it sinks and not be the first to get on the lifeboat. When we discover that a leader has ignored the rules, people react negatively, we get angry, says Gerhard Andersson.
It can affect in different ways
Due to confirmation bias, which means that we are happy to seek information that supports the perceptions we already have, such an event can push us in one of two different directions, believes the psychology professor.
– For some, it can lead to being more careful, if you support the theory that the authorities and politicians have been wrong. We see a trend now across the country, an explosion of mouth guards, I’d like to call it, more and more people are using mouth guards in different contexts.
For others, on the contrary, it may have the effect of supporting a theory that is not so dangerous.
– Some may think that if, for example, Morgans Johansson does not even believe in it, then perhaps the pandemic is greatly exaggerated.
Morgan Johansson has commented on his visit to the noon sale in an email to TT:
“I visited a mall the other day to buy a late Christmas present for my parents. It was an oversight and he should have planned that purchase better. However, there was no congestion and it was possible to maintain a safe distance thanks to the guards who regulated the number of visitors. “
Published:
