“When the context changes, you have to adapt again. They have to resist all sorts of distractions. It’s easier for students to follow what’s being said in a lecture when they are in a classroom, compared to when they’re listening to it from home, with their webcam turned off. Moreover, Aarts explains that people need a certain environment to make choices and stick to routines. All that switching back and forth makes people tired.” ![]() These yo-yo policies only confuse people. They get to the point where they’re simply done with constantly having to change the way they think and act. Certain things are forbidded at one moment and allowed the next, and soon after they're banned again. “It becomes nearly impossible for people to keep stepping over that threshold and starting over. After all, it requires getting used to new habits and finding new weekly routines. But people’s behaviour is crucial in the fight against Covid. The professor says it gets harder and harder to adjust our behaviour each time new measures are announced. Behind closed doors, people don't always stick to the maximum number of visitors, thereby keeping up with their social habits.” Not everyone will abide by what the government tells us to do. "people feel like they need to compensate for the restrictions. Forcing bars to shut their doors only means that students will throw parties at home. The same creativity that was used to come up with online activities in the beginning of the pandemic is now being used to finding out ways to get around the rules, or have fun in ways that are barely allowed. The government should think about that very carefully.” It’s not sensible to change that every six months or shut them down completely. When you close cafés, restaurants and cultural institutions, you affect immense social structures. “Doing a pub quiz on your laptop is fun - once. But it can't replace social interaction. Board games were more popular than ever and people started having beers in front of their laptops instead of at their student associations. But those alternatives have lost their luster by now. In the beginning of the pandemic, people came up with a myriad of creative ways to spend their free time and keep their social lives going. It's such a missed opportunity that they’re not doing so.” “The government is basically leaving things up to the people, like 'solve it yourselves'. If you do succeed, the new situation required you to perceive the things you're still allowed to do in your free time differently", explains Aarts. ![]() “Research shows us that it takes quite some effort to repress our thoughts and behaviours. The Covid-19 measures conflict with our habits as they discourage some types of behaviour, such as exercising at the end of the day, spending your Friday night in the bar, or going out until early in the morning. Habits are important because they help insure we do things on autopilot, which frees up space in our minds for other things that matter to us. ![]() People become indifferent when things are constantly imposed on them.”Īarts studies how people form and change their habits. It affects their sense of responsibility. The measures also affect people’s autonomy, says the behavioural scientist. “When you limit people’s autonomy too much, they end up distancing themselves from their behaviour. This constant adjusting, when it’s not something you’re eager to do, breeds mental stress. But the measures against the coronavirus have been forcing us to adjust our behaviour repeatedly against our will. “The sense that it’s not your own choice evokes resistance. According to Aarts, in general, human beings don’t like changing things in their lives unless there are good reasons to do so: for example, we may move to another city because we want to study there.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |