Defending Freedom

The spread of Covid-19 has been exacerbated by people not adhering to social distancing guidelines and laws. This rebellion may be driven by psychological reactance inspired by limits to personal and religious freedom.[1] In the first image, the graffiti writer defies restrictions with creative edits to an official sign at a public recreation area in Winnipeg, Canada. In the second, the writer proclaims lockdowns as lethal and implies that their imposition is akin to communism, i.e., antithetical to a free and democratic society.  

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[1] David DeFranza, Mike Lindow, Kevin Harrison, Arul Mishra and Himanshu Mishra. “Religion and reactance to COVID-19 mitigation guidelines.” American Psychologist. Advance online publication (2020). https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000717