Words matter: how New Zealand’s clear messaging helped beat Covid | The Guardian
▻http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/26/words-matter-how-new-zealands-clear-messaging-helped-beat-covid
Paul Gilbert, a clinical psychologist and the founder of the Compassionate Mind Foundation, says there is no evidence to show that triggering negative emotions is an effective influence on behaviour. “People don’t like to be made to feel guilty and they will after a while turn off from it … It’s just very basic psychology.”
What New Zealanders were being asked to do was relatively straightforward, says Walsh: “What was really important was the style, tone, and manner … We worked hard on empathy. We tried very hard not to tell people off, and to be supportive.”
