August 31, 2020

COMMENTARY / Luis Ángel Díaz Robredo*.

It may be sarcastic to some, and even cruel, to hear that these circumstances of a global pandemic by COVID-19 are interesting times for social and individual psychology. And it may be stranger still, to take these difficult times into account when establishing relationships with the security and defense of states.

First of all, we must point out the obvious: the current circumstances are exceptional because we have never before known such a threat to health that transcends such diverse and decisive areas as the world Economics , international politics, geostrategy, industry, demography... Individuals and institutions were not prepared a few months ago and, even today, we are still dealing with them with a certain degree of improvisation. The fees mortality and contagion rates have skyrocketed and the resources that the public administration has mobilized are unknown to date. Without going any further, the Balmis operation -mission statement of support against the pandemic, organized and executed by the Ministry of Defense - has deployed in 20,000 interventions, during 98 days of state of alarm and with a total of 188,713 mobilized military.

In addition to the sanitary tasks of disinfection, logistics and health support, there have been other tasks more typical of social control, such as the presence of the military in the streets and at critical points or reinforcement at borders. This work, which some people may find disconcerting due to its unusual nature of authority over the population itself, is justified by atypical group behaviors that we have observed since the beginning of the pandemic. Suffice it to cite a few Spanish examples that reflect how in some moments there have been behaviors that are not very logical for social imitation, such as the accumulation of basic necessities (food) or not so basic necessities (toilet paper) that emptied supermarket shelves for a few hours.

There have also been moments of lack of solidarity and even of certain social tension due to the fear of contagion against vulnerable groups, such as the elderly with COVID-19 who were transferred from one town to another and who were booed by the neighborhood that received them and had to be escorted by the police. Also, infrequently but equally negative and unsupportive, there have been cases in which some health workers suffered fear and rejection by their neighbors. And lately, the sanctioning and arrest of people who did not respect the rules of social distance and individual protection has been another common action of the authorities and State Security Forces and Corps. These events, which fortunately have been limited and quickly solved by the authorities, have been more than surpassed by many other positive social behaviors of solidarity, altruism and generosity among citizens.

However, since national security must contemplate not only ideal scenarios but also situations with shortages or possible risks, these social variables must be taken into account when establishing a strategy.

Secondly, the flow of information has been a veritable tsunami of forces and interests that have overwhelmed the information capabilities of entire societies, business groups and even individuals. Official media, private media, social networks and even anonymous groups with destabilizing interests have competed in this game to capture the citizen's attention. If this status has shown anything, it is that the excess of information can be as disabling as the lack of information and that even the use of false, incomplete or somehow manipulated information makes us more influential in front of the public.
This is a clear danger for social stability, the operability of health services, the facilitation of organized crime or even the mental health of the population.

Third and finally, we cannot forget that society and our institutions - including those related to security and defense - have their greatest weakness and strength based on the people who make them up. If there is one thing that the pandemic is putting at test it is the psychological strength of individuals due to the circumstance of uncertainty towards the present and future, management of fear of illness and death, and an innate need for attachment to social relationships. Our ability to cope with this new VUCA (Vulnerability, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) scenario that affects each and every social and professional
social and professional environments requires a strong leadership style, adapted to this demanding status , authentic and based on group values. There is no unilateral solution today, if not with the effort of many. It is not empty words to affirm that the resilience of a society, of an Armed Forces or of a human group , is based on working together, fighting together, suffering together, with a cohesion and a team work properly trained.

That said, we can understand that psychological variables - at the individual and grouplevels - are at play in this pandemic status and that we can and should use the knowledge provided by Psychology as a serious science, adapted to real needs and with a constructive spirit, to plan the tactics and strategy of the current and future scenarios derived from Covid-19.

Undoubtedly, these are interesting times for psychology.

* Luis Ángel Díaz Robredo is a professor at Schoolof Educationand Psychology at the University of Navarra.