Hello and welcome to Culture Chat, something new we're trying at the Culture Strategy to
start conversations about culture and how we work together as a University community.
Today's topic: uncertainty.
We thought we'd check in with some of our academics to get their thoughts on uncertainty,
panic and communication.
Today's guests; Professor Phyllis Butow, a psychologist here at the University, and Professor
Marc Stears, political theorist and Director of the Sydney Policy Lab.
Hi Phyllis.
Everybody's thinking about COVID-19 at the moment, and reading the news and thinking
about the future.
As the virus spreads, we've seen anxiety and panic spread too, including those incredible
pictures of supermarkets all around the world now and their shortage of toilet roll and
pasta and other sort of essential items.
What does psychology tell us about panic and anxiety in situations like this?
Well, what psychology tells us about uncertainty, and this situation is rife with uncertainty,
is that people tend to respond by either seeing it as an opportunity, or as a threat.
So if you were to see this as an opportunity you might think if everybody improves their
hand washing and general cleanliness it will reduce the spread of flu and cold as well
as COVID-19.
And if I'm not in my eighties, then I'm unlikely to catch this and it's unlikely to be life-threatening.
But if you see it as a threat, then you're likely to panic.
So we certainly need to encourage both sides of that spectrum.
And then we also know that if you are under threat, people tend to respond by trying to
get some sort of control over something that they can do.
And buying toilet paper is something that most of us can do.
So I think that's a very natural and unsurprising response to a threat, that we're trying to
protect ourselves.
And, Marc, can I ask you, how do you think we can manage this situation through communication?
Are there any lessons we can learn from politics?
Well, politicians are dealing with crises all the time.
This is a crisis on a large, large scale for them, but there are three principles that
guide effective communication from leaders of all kinds - political leaders, business
leaders, in moments like this.
The first is that you have to be empathetic.
You have to show concern and understanding for what people are going through, those anxieties
that you've described.
To say that you know them, you feel them, in those famous words of Bill Clinton, you
feel my pain.
The second is, you have to be able to show that you have control, so that you are using
expert judgement, you have some kind of sense of the map, of the likely outcomes - what's
going to happen next, what's happened in the past.
So reflecting some sort of knowledge and expertise is really important.
And finally, I think the thing which some people sometimes miss, is you've also got
to, as you said, look to the future.
People will have a much stronger response to this crisis if they know that there's a
better future after we get on to the other side of it.
In the jargon of communications we sometimes call that mission orientation.
Some sense that let's drive through and make things better, at least after the worst of
this has fallen.
So, those kind of principles, being empathetic, using expert judgement, and giving people
a sense of purpose, drive and future mission, seem to be crucial.
Yes, and I think as a University community we need to be very conscious of supporting
each other.
Each and everyone one of us, regardless of race or gender, we're all at risk of this
situation, and we're all managing it together.
Yeah absolutely, and everyone feels the anxiety, every single part of the University community
have anxiety.
But we can support each other by going back to these core principles I think, by giving
a sense of warmth, of generosity of spirit, and a sense that we can, if we pull together,
both get through this and build a better public institution at the other side of it.
Yes, and I think that communication coming from all levels is, as you've highlighted,
so critical in giving people a sense of understanding what the community is doing about this risk.
Absolutely.
So there you have it.
And hopefully you get from today's conversation some tips on how you can deal with uncertainty
and communication in you work.
I think we heard from Phyllis there that it's very natural to feel uncertainty and anxiety.
But we heard from Marc too about how important it is to show empathy, to ground responses
in expertise, and to give people a sense of mission or purpose.