Mindsets matter enormously. If a someone’s worldview places them as a victim they personalise the events in their lives. Thus lockdown requirements are an affront and cast as a loss rather than a service to the wider community. People who hold this mentality and who are also socially uncaring – and if they have lower cognitive ability – have been shown in recent research to ignore advice to keep physical distance rules (mind you, having an inflated sense of one’s own needs (being narcissistic) and a grievance mentality is no longer a barrier to higher office).
And yet most of us are doing the right thing. What explains NZ’s strong, population-wide response to contain the virus? I think three key factors stand out.
