Did Fear of Social Rejection Drive Rush for Covid Protection?
According to the website Worldindata, 67.4% of the world’s population have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 shot. Full ‘vaccination’ ranges from a low of 0.1% in Burundi to a high of over 99% in Gibraltar. Canada comes in at 82.9% while the U.S. registers at 67.8%. Statistically speaking, those who advocated getting such protection should be satisfied, if not proud, of the results they were able to achieve, given all the controversies, the mixed messages, the players involved, and the politics of it all.
But what caused so many to oblige the elite who pushed the requirements and the restrictions – shots, certificates, masks, social distancing, quarantines, etc? Clearly, the number of driving forces are numerous and vary from one group to another, if not person to person. And the sources could be age, health, gender, faith, believes, level of independence, uncertainty, science, need to work, you name it. The list is endless.
However, a new study recently reported in Social Psychological and Personality Science indicates one main cause could be ‘social rejection’. I read about it in Newswise which indicates that “Interpersonal rejection can motivate people who do not normally worry about disease to protect themselves against Covid-19.” Feeling interpersonally hurt or rejected, also known as social pain, and the desire to avoid same, makes people more likely to feel that they need to protect themselves – not necessarily from Covid – but “from others”, that is, the rejection of others.
Interestingly, this current study goes contrary to prior research that suggests people may be less likely to take safety precautions even though they are concerned about their connections to others. The current authors found that people who felt invulnerable to infectious disease engaged in more concerted efforts to protect themselves against Covid-19 when they were in social pain. They found that pain to be a motivator. And they also found the reverse – when such pain is less, people take fewer precautions.
A cynical person would wonder who is really behind such research and the desire to contrary existing findings at this time? I mean really what ‘scientific’ factor or variable has changed except the going agenda? But, hey, let’s leave the cynicism to others. We just raise some flags.
Also interesting is that the main researcher is quick to point out that their study is “not urging people to reject others in an effort to motivate them to take actions to protect themselves against Covid-19.” However, they go on to say, “the study suggests that normal social interactions can change the way people respond to the daily threat of Covid-19.” As a minimum, they argue the current research “does suggest that it’s important to understand how people’s behavior is influenced by the non-physical threats that others pose to them.”
This is exactly what the likes of George Soros, Bill Gates, the ‘woke’ governments of our world, and the likes of the WEF want to hear. The authors have made some solid friendships for the rest of their lives.
All this caused me to reflect on what exactly caused so many of my family, my friends, my fellow churchgoers and other faith believers to take the actions suggested by their governments. For me, not to follow the government’s advice was a slam-dunk: lack of government credibility; rush to push it on everyone; lack of real medical trials and testing; the money to be made; the agendas of many politicians; the loss of freedom to decide for ourselves; and the silencing of the medical profession who, for the most part, eventually capitulated in order to save their jobs – to name a few. In addition, I must admit that I had a number of close contacts and friends that had similar views. That indeed made the consequences of my decision easier, but only after it was independently made.
But why did so many of those that I knew and expected would have come to similar conclusions as myself, not do so. Why did they comply? I’ve received various answers when I asked including “I’m in the vulnerable age group”, “I need it to work”, “I need it to travel for my ministry”, “the science requires it”, “the government can’t possibly be trying to kill us”, “we as Christians need to comply with our governments where their requests do not require us to break God’s laws for us”, and so on. The last one is a topic big enough to be addressed on its own at another time.
Not one person I asked said, “I complied because I didn’t want to be isolated from my friends.” Although I must admit when I shared this latest research with my wife who also did not comply, she did say she fully understood it. She reminded me that I am an “independent sort who doesn’t really care about what people think of you” while she has a greater “need to be included and not to stand out from the crowd.” I, on the other hand, she contends, while I am an ‘includer’ (the more the merrier), I don’t care if people don’t want to join my campaign. It’s their life. Just as it is my body given to me by God.
But here is the rub for me. And I address this primarily to my Christian family, friends, and associates. If it is so important for you not to be socially rejected, why is that? Why would social rejection trump your logical thinking about all your concerns about regarding the precautions you took or are about to take? Did Jesus not warn you about social rejection? From society, government, friends, and relatives?
Yes, I know that for some of my family and friends, life would have been much easier for all of us during the past two and a half years, had my wife and I complied with the forceful requirements of my government that, if ignored, had meaningful but not intolerable consequences. But I also wondered, as a Christian, that if I was forced to comply to something that I believed was not expedient for me to do so now – something as simple as Covid-19 protection, how would I ever be able to stand up to requests of me down the road that would definitely go against my beliefs, what God wants, and what God addresses in the Bible? I had to say “no”.
Let me end on a positive note from my recent observations of many friends who did get ‘vaccinated’ twice. When they stopped long enough, now that they had complied, to rethink all the data, they came to the conclusion that two shots are enough – no boosters for them and certainly not one every six months so that pharmaceuticals can make billions and so that presidents and prime ministers can continue to use fear as a tool in the kits to control us.
I welcome your thoughts.
Ken B. Godevenos, August 12, 2022, Murrells Inlet, S.C.
It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.
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