“The combination of “Stockholm Syndrome” and “cognitive dissonance” produces a victim who firmly believes the relationship is not only acceptable, but also desperately needed for their survival,? writes Joseph M. Carver, PhD for Mental-Health-Matters.com.

Interesting, you say, but what does this have to do with the price of iMacs in China?

Well, nothing, but it does have a great deal to do with a recent issue I had with an IT department head at a company with which I was consulting recently. I won?t get into the specifics, but you know the drill, this guy hated Macs for some reason, made outright fun of Macs using all of the usual myths (too expensive, no software, no one uses them, Apple?s going out of business, etc.), but was getting pounded by his company?s workers and management as his network repeatedly failed due to viruses and patches and just plain Windows crashes.

I think I?ve figured out the answer to my own article from last November, ?I really wonder what some Windows users think about Macintosh.?

These Windows users are sick. Sick, I tell you! Mentally ill. Want proof? Okay, but keep in mind that this gets eerie, proceed at your own risk:

Dr. Carver explains the history of the naming of Stockholm Syndrome, ?On August 23rd, 1973 two machine-gun carrying criminals entered a bank in Stockholm, Sweden. Blasting their guns, one prison escapee named Jan-Erik Olsson announced to the terrified bank employees ?The party has just begun!? The two bank robbers held four hostages, three women and one man, for the next 131 hours. The hostages were strapped with dynamite and held in a bank vault until finally rescued on August 28th. After their rescue, the hostages exhibited a shocking attitude considering they were threatened, abused, and feared for their lives for over five days. In their media interviews, it was clear that they supported their captors and actually feared law enforcement personnel who came to their rescue.?

?While the psychological condition in hostage situations became known as ?Stockholm Syndrome? due to the publicity ? the emotional ?bonding? with captors was a familiar story in psychology. It had been recognized many years before and was found in studies of other hostage, prisoner, or abusive. In the final analysis, emotionally bonding with an abuser is actually a strategy for survival for victims of abuse and intimidation,? Dr. Carver writes.

Stockholm Syndrome has certain symptoms or behaviors according to Dr. Carver. These include:
A. Positive feelings by the victim toward the abuser/controller
B. Negative feelings by the victim toward family, friends, or authorities trying to rescue/support them or win their release
C. Support of the abuser’s reasons and behaviors
D. Positive feelings by the abuser toward the victim
E. Supportive behaviors by the victim, at times helping the abuser
F. Inability to engage in behaviors that may assist in their release or detachment

Now, I shall interpret, using my IT friend as the example:
A: Even though completely locked into a failing computer system, he compliments Microsoft when speaking of Windows and Microsoft applications.
B. I was trying to explain the benefits of Mac OS X vs. Windows when it comes to usability, stability, and virus/worm security only to have him make fun of Apple and the Mac based upon myths and falsehoods.
C. His support of Microsoft?s system of patching problems as they came up, how Windows worked, etc. was strong.
D. This poor bastard loved Microsoft.
E. This guy was proud that he had been awake for 56 hours, working through two nights straight to patch hundreds of infected Windows machines.
F. He wouldn?t listen to me as I offered him an option (Mac) that did everything he needed to do (and more) without the problems of Windows.

According to Dr. Carver, four situations or conditions must be present that serve as a foundation for the development of Stockholm Syndrome:
A. The presence of a perceived threat to one’s physical or psychological survival and the belief that the abuser would carry out the threat
B. The presence of a perceived small kindness from the abuser to the victim
C. Isolation from perspectives other than those of the abuser
D. The perceived inability to escape the situation

My interpretation:
A: The perceived threat, I believe, is that my IT friend would have to ?learn something new? or, to put it simply, fear of change. This is a very strong fear in some humans.
B: Microsoft had worked with him on licensing, some custom work, etc.
C. My IT friend would not hear the words Mac or Apple or anything other than Windows without immediately shutting down intellectually and resorting to making fun of the Mac and Apple users.
D. He was so deeply invested in time and money with Microsoft, that he couldn?t even consider life without Microsoft.

Dr. Carver explains that, ?In abusive and controlling relationships, the victim has the sense they are always ?walking on eggshells? ? fearful of saying or doing anything that might prompt a violent/intimidating outburst. My IT friend had long ago barred all users from installing any software on their machines, kept Windows restore discs everywhere (even in his car!), and acted like keeping his computer running was the result of hours and hours of fine-tuning (which it was).

more from [url=http://www.macdailynews.com/opinion_comments.php?id=P1978_0_2_0_C]Mac Daily News[/url]

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Filed under: Apple - @ February 2, 2004 11:52 pm