Optimism during and post Covid-19 is vital for Kenya’s future

The belief that Kenya will overcome coronavirus pandemic and come out stronger, more unified, and better prepared for the future is not only something that can improve our morale in the short term.

This belief can shape Kenya’s future.

The phenomenon of a self-fulfilling prophecy was first discovered by American sociologist William Isaac Thomas in 1928. Naming it after himself, he described the Thomas dictum as follows: “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.”

In other words, he described the psychological phenomenon whereby if someone predicts or expects something to happen, then it will come true as a result of that belief. This is applicable to both negative and positive outcomes. Expect the best and enjoy the outcome. But if you expect the worst, then the worst is likely to happen.

People’s beliefs affect outcomes because they inform their behaviour. Therefore, being pessimistic or optimistic can actually have real and direct consequences. Building on Thomas’ theory, the sociologist Robert Merton coined the term “self-fulfilling prophecy”.

 Attitudes can make or break outcomes. And during this uncertain time, in Kenya and the world over, we should be keeping this in mind in our behaviour and thoughts.

In his research, Merton gave the example of how a wrong belief could cause an undesired outcome. Let us say that a group of people believe that the economy is going to collapse because banks will collapse. Then they all go to pull out their money at once, or transfer it to foreign currencies. Banks will go bankrupt because of the withdrawal of all the cash in a short period. This actually happened in Argentina in 2001.

Further, the Pygmalion effect occurs when a person’s behaviour is affected by the expectation that others have about that person’s performance.

This phenomenon is named after the Greek myth of Pygmalion, a story about a sculptor who fell in love with a sculpture he created because it was so beautiful.

How we see the outcome of coronavirus in Kenya in the medium to long term is important. We should be cautious about negative thoughts. If we are to expect our government to do well, we have to believe that politicians are capable of doing what they were elected to do.

We have already seen the government’s efforts to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

Cynicism can have negative effects on our mental health. Research supports the idea that being positive can have a meaningful effect on physical health. Cynicism regarding the leadership of our nation can harm our achievements.

Despite the coronavirus, Kenya has experienced an era of unprecedented unity in our nation’s history. Never before has there been so little ethnic strife.

The handshake of March 2018 between President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga brought unity and peace in the country after a hotly contested presidential elections in 2017.

The same kind of spirit of hopefulness, putting the past behind us and thinking brightly about the future, is needed right now.

Do you believe that Kenya will emerge stronger after the Covid-19 crisis or regress decades backwards in terms of economic development and socio-political status? Do you believe in helping your neighbours and sharing with them?

I believe strongly believe in the ability of our elected officials, especially those at the highest level, to lead us out of this crisis. I believe that we will look back on this experience as one that made us to grow and learn. During this critical time, let us all remain positive and united for the good of the nation.