In recent days, public health experts and policymakers have taken to the airwaves and to social media to beg people, effectively, to stay home and avoid group gatherings. On Twitter, the hashtag #HighRiskCovid19 has been trending, with those most at risk for serious complications from COVID-19 using it to implore others to take seriously these instructions. Their lives, they tell us, depend on it. And they are right.
Yet, even as we are inundated with messages about the seriousness of the situation, photos on social media showed crowded bars and restaurants across the country, and prominent politicians like President Donald Trump and Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt blatantly ignored the experts’ advice in very public ways. Even in the days since President Trump finally changed his tune on the pandemic, images of packed Florida beaches, crowded bars, and chaotic grocery stores were everywhere.
Why are people being so cavalier in the face of clear instructions from the nation’s top scientists and public health experts?
Behavioral scientists have long studied the idea of reactance, a concept pioneered by Jack Brehm in 1966. In his words, psychological reactance refers to the idea that when individual freedoms are “reduced or threatened with reduction,” people tend to be “motivationally aroused to regain” those freedoms. That is, when you tell me what to do, a part of me feels compelled to do the opposite.
Why are people being so cavalier in the face of clear instructions from the nation’s top scientists and public health experts?
For example, every parent knows that when you tell a child to do something, they seem almost biologically predisposed to doing the exact opposite thing. “Don’t run by the pool!” you shout. “Maybe I should try that…” they think. In short, when someone tells you how to behave, you feel your liberty threatened and “lash out” not only by ignoring the advice but by leaning into behavior that goes against what is being suggested. And while more work is needed to understand cultural differences in this domain, it seems possible that in countries like the U.S. that champion personal freedom as a virtue, people might be more predisposed to reactance behaviors than others.
In many instances, reactance is a quirk of human behavior that is simply frustrating or annoying, and sometimes even amusing. However, right now, reactance is deadly. The advice coming from public health experts to wash our hands, stay indoors, cancel even small-group events, and stay six to nine feet away from others (especially those who are sick) is based on a combination of science and an abundance of caution about a deadly virus we still don’t know a great deal about. So our desire to “push back” against this sound guidance is driving us toward behaviors that will strengthen the public health tsunami that is just around the corner.
Psychological reactance is also made worse by a number of other factors at this unique time. First, in recent years America has seen growing antipathy toward expertise and intellectualism in our public discourse. Increasingly, experts are branded cultural elites who snobbishly look down on the common man. This makes reactance a convenient way to stick it to the elites who are trying to stifle our freedom by dictating to the masses.
Our desire to “push back” against sound guidance is driving us toward behaviors that will strengthen the public health tsunami that is just around the corner.
Second, the nature of this crisis is fundamentally different than many that have come before—that is, the catastrophe is coming, but it has not fully “arrived” yet. Experts suggest that the peak of the pandemic wave is still several weeks away. In light of this, it is easy to wave a dismissive hand at the advice; “I mean, no one seems sick—this is a hoax!” (Worryingly, climate change is a crisis with a similar character.)
Third, the coronavirus is being fueled by another social virus that has taken root in our society in recent years: misinformation. With social media in particular replete with information supporting almost any perspective on the ongoing crisis, people are increasingly able to locate and follow only their preferred advice. Sadly, this advice is often based on fictions, or is politically motivated, which makes it even harder for the correct advice to shine through.
So what can we do about the pernicious effect of reactance?
First, we can be a bit more self-aware and make sure that we are doing the right things for the right reasons. In the same way that it is wise to check oneself before responding to a gentle scolding from a family member or spouse with a fight-inducing counterpunch (“Yeah, I forgot to put out the trash—but you forget to walk the dogs every night!”), we should consider how we are responding to directives in the coming days and see if our response is based on logic or on reactance.
Second, we need to collectively think about how best to frame adherence to directives from experts as a social norm that is cool and worthwhile to follow. Some celebrities have caught on to the power of their platform in this regard, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose Twitter feed has featured amusing and good-natured videos of him obeying the rules and modeling proper behavior.
As difficult as it is to hear, personal freedom and the illusion of agency need to take a back seat if we are to save lives during this pandemic.
Third, we need to rid ourselves of the idea that we have complete agency in this situation. The virus is not a social being, it is a biological entity. You cannot will it away by being “tough” or “clever,” nor can you simply rely on medical care to be available for you if you do become sick. As experts are noting, medical facilities are likely to be overwhelmed soon, and there may be a situation where care needs to be rationed to those most in need, or those most likely to survive a serious case of COVID-19 (as in Italy). As difficult as it is to hear, personal freedom and the illusion of agency need to take a back seat if we are to save lives during this pandemic.
Fourth, it is critical that we push our politicians to tell us the truth. Their words matter, and when they downplay the severity of the situation or seek to deflect blame for the ongoing crisis, they do the public a disservice. They also fuel reactance through dishonesty—why listen to authorities when they all lie to you anyway? Now is the time for honesty, no matter how hard it might be to hear.
Finally, it is time for us to listen to public health experts in particular; after all, they are the reason the world weathered outbreaks like Ebola in the past. No doubt, for a country that lionizes the idea of freedom, this is a difficult change in mentality. But right now, those who are used to doing what they want need to come to grips with putting others first, and (to some extent) doing what they are told.
