Behavioural science advisers express concern over Cummings crisis

Members of a government behavioural science advisory group have expressed concern that the revelations that Dominic Cummings appears to have broken the UK’s coronavirus restrictions and the government’s subsequent handling of the crisis has undermined the government’s authority and could encourage people to break the rules themselves.

At a press conference yesterday, prime minister Boris Johnson said that his aide Cummings had “acted responsibly, legally and with integrity” and “followed the instincts of every father”. Cummings is reported to have driven with his wife and son over 260 miles to a family home in County Durham in late March, after government coronavirus restrictions had been brought in that limited movement and requested the nation stay at home to contain the spread of the virus.

“The actions of Cummings, and of Johnson and other cabinet ministers subsequently, have been perceived by the UK public to show that there is one rule for those close to the government and another for the rest of us – i.e., a lack of fairness and equity,” says Susan Michie, a health psychologist at University College London. “This is extremely damaging, as collective solidarity is very important for maintaining trust.”

Michie has been a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (SPI-B), which advises the government on how best to get the public to stick to measures recommended by medical or epidemiological experts.

In February, a SPI-B report stressed that a “sense of collectivism” would be important for maintaining public order, saying that a sense that “we are all in this together” would avoid increasing tensions, promote social norms, and lead to self-policing within communities.

Trust and respect are also important, says Stephen Reicher, a behavioural scientist at the University of St Andrews, UK, who has also been a member of SPI-B. “The literature on why people obey authority shows very clearly that a critical factor is the sense that one is trusted, respected and listened to by authority,” he says. Adherence to restrictions is “critically undermined when this is replaced by a sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’ – one law for us, another for them.”

“The public perceived Boris Johnson’s performance at the press conference yesterday to show a lack of clarity, honesty and openness, and a lack of respect for the British people,” says Michie.

“Humans have evolved a tendency to copy what those around them are doing,” says Val Curtis, who researches hygiene and behaviour at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who has also been a SPI-B member. “To encourage a particular behaviour, it’s important that people perceive that everybody around them is doing that behaviour. That’s why it’s vital that we all see and hear how well people are complying.”

The Cummings scandal may put this at risk. “When attention turns to non-compliers, it effectively gives permission to people to deviate from a social norm,” says Curtis.

Michie says it is important to remind the public that coronavirus guidance “should still be rigorously followed, despite some people interpreting rules in a way that enable them to be an exception to those rules and to ‘follow their instincts’”.

“Confidence and trust in the political leadership of the government has been severely dented,” says Michie. She says that scientific and medical leaders must communicate directly with the press and public, so that their reputation “is not dented by association”.