Estonian and Finnish researchers: medieval plague legends teach crisis communication

Estonian and Finnish researchers have discovered surprising similarities between medieval plague folklore and contemporary health crisis communication related to the environment. Both text types help people cope with danger, but folklore emphasizes the active role of the individual, whereas official crisis communication focuses more on prohibitions.

Estonian and Finnish researchers have reached an intriguing conclusion: medieval plague legends and contemporary health crisis communication have more in common than might appear at first glance. Both text types essentially serve the same purpose-teaching people how to cope with a dangerous situation.

Folklore versus official message

According to the research, however, the way each approach informs people about danger differs. Official crisis communication is dominated by prohibitions and prescriptions, instructions about what must not be done and what must be avoided. Folklore, by contrast, places emphasis on the active actions and personal responsibility of the individual.

According to the researchers, this important difference matters because people respond differently to different types of messaging. While official communication primarily provides passive instructions, legends depict heroes who make their own decisions and take responsibility-this may be a more effective way to influence behaviour.

Lessons for today

The finding is especially relevant in the context of environment-related health risks, where human behaviour plays a critically important role. The researchers believe that contemporary crisis communication could draw inspiration from folklore and add more elements that activate people to their messages, rather than limiting themselves to lists of prohibitions.

The study shows that storytelling techniques thousands of years old have not lost their power in the modern day; quite the opposite, they offer valuable models for how to reach people and get them to act at a critical moment.