Maria Makusheva about panic reactions of the population and ways to deal with them

A sociologist told Kommersant about the panic reactions of the population and how to deal with them Maria Makusheva.

– What kind of reaction, from the point of view of sociologists, should be expected from the population in the border Kursk, Bryansk, Voronezh and Belgorod regions against the backdrop of recurring dangerous combat situations there?

– Change of residence, reduction of spending and trips to entertainment venues, stockpiling of essential goods. And this is a natural reaction to a crisis situation. Another question is what part of the population is affected by this. Now we do not see mass panic in the border regions, which is possibly due to the routinization of stress.

For example, as the FOM survey showed, the arrivals of drones in these regions are an important event for themselves in the first week after the incident, about 16% of respondents, in the second – 6%, in the third – 2%. Everything that is not directly connected with a person, his family, acquaintances, is soon forced out to the periphery of perception.

– Maybe the reason for routinization is the events of recent years, including not only hostilities, but also a pandemic?

— Of course, we live in a series of alternating stressful events. In the social sciences in the last decade, the concept of “infodemic” has appeared (an overabundance of information.— “b”). What does it look like? In a panic, we react not so much to the starting event as to its endless animation in social networks and to the behavior of other people.

For example, at the beginning of the pandemic, due to the hype, empty shelves in individual stores turned into a picture of massive shortages and provoked even more demand. Events followed a similar scenario after the announcement of partial mobilization or the recent situation with PMC Wagner, when some people hastily left the country.

Evolutionary psychologists will say that panic helped our ancestors survive. But today it is not so even from a practical point of view. Someone, for example, buys unnecessary things or air tickets for 200 thousand rubles for future use, and then rents them with fines. This hits the family budget and negatively affects the economy as a whole, as the hype is followed by a pullback in demand.

Is it possible to effectively deal with mass panic?

– Prohibitions and restrictions are not always effective. For example, restrictions on the sale of products to one person can, on the contrary, stimulate overconsumption, which we have seen in a number of cities. Fast and as complete information as possible is important: any understatement is quickly filled with speculation and rumors.

It is desirable to speak with people in their language, and not in the protocol genre. Dry bureaucratic language in response to figurative, fear-filled questions on social networks can sometimes cause rejection. And, of course, it is important to avoid blaming or ridiculing those who have panicked. This often leads to an increase in distrust. To reassure people, you need to fully reconstruct their logic, to hear what and why they are afraid.

— Are there any positive examples of dealing with negative public sentiments from other areas?

— We work a lot with environmental issues. A new factory was being built within the industrial cluster, and the residents were worried. In parallel with the information from environmentalists and engineers, the enterprise made an eco-trail in the neighborhood, began to lead excursions, publish photos of rabbits and birds, and conduct lectures. This made it possible to convey to the inhabitants the goals that no longer scared them so much. They realized that a number of frightening stories on social networks about emissions and poisoning of the territory were at least an exaggeration.

Another example is the fight against fears of a burning flare of associated gas. In one city, after another wave of messages about threats in social networks, an enterprise announced a competition for the best photos of a burning torch. This helped to translate communication into a more constructive direction.

Interviewed by Alexandra Mertsalova