How I, despite living it the "happiest country in the world", became a victim of the bad Apple effect (case 2).

Last week I suffered from the Bad apple effect when a person, by referring to other people, and very aggressively, accused my, but not getting to the point about what i was about. Referring to other people is a trick called semantic inversion, contranymic naming, or ambiguous language or doublespeak. Finland has issues with Alzheimer's, depression, psychological violence in the home environment, tribalism, and work climate. One person, a 'bad apple' , can destroy the organizational climate. That person probably suffers from some mental health issue. But because mental health issues are prevalent in Finland, the probability of suffering from bad apple's are equally high.

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For over a year, I have put in ~250 hours in pro-bono work at a church in Helsingfors which distribute food to people. I met with people I normality not meet, and we developed a great relationsship during the packing of vegetebles, bread, and other food items.

I'm research psychological, specializing in human executive functions and prospective thinking (Österberg, 2004, a b, 2012; Österberg and Köping Olsson, 2018, Österberg and Köping Olsson, 2021). Due to my history as a performance coach, head of education, international referee, executive coach, and researcher, my life has, unplanned, been a bit surreal. I have typically not had a traditional job but rather coached people to improve their performance, traveled (1) Sweden to train people to become performance coaches, (2) some countries as a coach and referee (n=>5), being a speaking partner for business executives, and as a academic, conducting research, lecturing mostly of master levels, and travelling for international coferences (N>30). I was recruited to Finland to explore the future of food production from a perspective of entrepreneurial thinking (Österberg, 2021). When I was recruited to become a research-leader at the University of Helsingfors, I was also assigned to be the Head of the wellbeing team (pro-bono). That's because mental health issues were so prevalent (see above). Some said 20 % of the work force. That included meeting a lot of people who despised Sweden and people from Sweden.

During that stint, I have joined various pro-bono organizations. One of them was this church where they distribute food.

Last week, I had just finished for the day, and was heading to another meeting when a person who had a management role for the food distribution, said that ze wanted to talk to me. We sat down, and during the talk, ze started to accuse me of things (anti-swedish propaganda) that ze claimed ze had heard from other people. Ze's facial expression displayed [irrational] anger, and ze's hands were trembling. That is an indication that ze's cortisol levels were high.

High cortisol levels shut down the brain's center for instrumental and epistemic rational thinking – the hippocampi, there is one in each hemisphere, and activates neighboring amygdalae. The result: a so-called fight-flight response (Goleman, 2006). This implies that there is a probability that the person will become dangerous.

Refering to other people is a trick used to try to create the illusion that others share the sender’s view. The sender is trying to dilute ownership of the message by making it seem shared and to protect their position by implying that others share the same concern – even if it is not confirmed. Simply shirk responsibility.

The phenomenon is called semantic inversion, contranymic naming, ambiguous language or doublespeak. All four are used to attribute one's own shortcomings to others – like blaming. In psychology, it is also called attribution error correspondence bias. In short, one's own shortcomings are someone else's fault.

How can we explain bad apple behavior?

Between 2000 – 2004, I conducted a study which became my masters' thesis in social psychology. In the study I tested the correlation between emotional relationships with the parents, and three subsets to the executive functions: emotional and social adjustment, and cognitive development. These unpacks and develops extensively during the first four to five years of living (Ardila, 2008, Ardila et al. 2018; Adornetti, 2016; Baker et al. 2020; Barkley, 2001; Baumrind, 1966; Diamond and Lee, 2011; Farran och Formby, 2011; Gopnik, 2016; Hart och Risley, 1995; Olsson, 2022; Pribram, 1973).

The result showed that children who grow up with both parents, or the father, have better mental adjustment and development (Österberg, 2004). That corresponded with other research on the topic (LaFlamme et al. 2012; Rolle et al. 2019; Sethna, 2017; Vieno et al. 2009, 2014).

Another aspect is malnutrition; people who abstain from animal source food, also report issues with mental health (Dobersek et al. 2023). A later study suggest that meat eaters have more positive psychological functioning compared to meat abstainers (Dobersek et al 2024).

The reason one person, the bad apple, can have such a negative impact on a many other people, is called Negativity bias – a cognitive bias that, even when positive or neutral things of equal intensity occur, things of a more negative nature (e.g. unpleasant thoughts, emotions, or social interactions; harmful/traumatic events) have a greater effect on one's psychological state and processes than neutral or positive thing (Baumeister et al 2001).

Was this person's aggressive behavior an outlier?

Since I arrived in Finland, international researchers, Finnish governments, and other organizations has reported the following:

1. Tribalism (Pagel, 2019).
   
   
2. Women's relation aggressiveness (psychological domestic violence) är den stora utmaningen (Helsingfors Police department, April, 2022).
   
   
3. School is at rock bottom – Too many Finnish kids fail reading comprehension and numeracy (the foundation for rationellt thinking (Stanovich, 2011, 2016) (The ministry for education and culture, May, 2022). Why? see point 2.
   
   
4. 20% of children and young people born in 1997 or later have mental challenges (Pekkarinen, november 2022).
   
   
5. Psychological domestic violence (relational aggressiveness) and lethal violence against small kids has increased (Pekkarinen, November, 2023). Why? see point 2.
   
   
6. The research at the University of Helsingfors has, and I quote, collapsed (Bäckgren, 2023).
   
   
7. Finland has the highest prevalence of Alzheimer's/dementia in the world:

   “The country with the most cases of Alzheimer's Disease is Finland. There are 54.65 cases of Alzheimer's for every 100,000 people in this country. These numbers and statistics put Finland in the extremely high occurrence and high prevalence range for the disease. Interestingly, females are much more likely to have Alzheimer's in Finland than males. For every 100,000 people, Alzheimer's impacts 55.32 females compared to just 52.10 males” (WPR).

   twice as high as neighboring Sweden (EU/OECD, 2023): According to an EU report, 19.9% of Finns who die, die of Dementia, and in particular Alzheimer's disease.
   
   

   

   Prevalence of welfare diseases in Finland.

   
   Among Swedes who die, 9.8% die of Dementia/Alzheimers.
   
   

   

   Prevalence of welfare diseases in Sweden.

   
   
   
8. Finland has the highest prevalence of depression within the EU (Estlander, November 2023).
   
   
9. 40% of Finnish schoolchildren are victims of psychological violence in the home (Estlander, November 2023). Psychological domestic violence = relational aggressiveness, which is typically female.
   
   
10. The working climate in Finnish workplaces is poor (Helsinki Times, februari, 2024).
    
    
11. At the Summer Olympics in Paris, Finland took home 0 medals. This does not apply to all sports, but is indicative. It seems that there are other challenges with sports leadership.
    
    
12. 50% of Finnish women and 33% of Finnish men, over 45 years of age, are expected to suffer from a serious brain disease (Finnish Brain Foundation, 2024). They meant Alzheimer's/Dementia.

    “One in two women and one in three men over the age of 45 will develop a serious brain disease during the rest of their lives.
    
    Indirectly, the disease affects even more people – family members, friends and colleagues”.

    
    
    
    
13. Entrepreneurship and innovation thinking are at rock bottom (Sitra, December 10, 2024).
    
    
14. Schools have challenges – children are not able to cope with reading comprehension and numeracy (Ministry of Education and Culture, April, 2025). Same as 2022. Why? see point 2.

Academic freedom of speech and viewpoint diversity – heterodoxy was suppressed (Parikka, 2022).

Note. Even though I was taken by surprise by the false accusations and ze's anger, I managed to remind ze about my expertise in psychology, that anger comes from within, and that my work was pro-bono.

Ze's response was laughter in a condescending way, and ze's hand was shaking even more. I said to ze that ze's attack felt horrible, but also that I felt great about what I had accomplished together my fellow food-packing 20-25 people. I also told ze that because of ze's aggressive behavior, I had no reason to stay.

Under normal circumstances, such a person should honor people who conducting pro-bono work. This Sapiens did the opposite.

So the question is, can one person ruin the work climate the way ze did?

“Yes, there is a study from 2006 known as the "Bad Apple Effect." This research was conducted by William Felps, Terence Mitchell, and Eliza Byington at the University of Washington. The study examined how one negative team member can significantly impact the overall performance and dynamics of a group (Co-pilot)

“This paper presents a review and integrative model of how, when, and why the behaviors of one negative group member can have powerful, detrimental influence on teammates and groups. We define the negative group member as someone who persistently exhibits one or more of the following behaviors: withholding effort from the group, expressing negative affect, or violating important interpersonal norms. We then detail how these behaviors elicit psychological states in teammates (e.g. perceptions of inequity, negative feelings, reduced trust), how those psychological states lead to defensive behavioral reactions (e.g. outbursts, mood maintenance, withdrawal), and finally, how these various manifestations of defensiveness influence important group processes and dynamics (e.g. cooperation, creativity). Key mechanisms and moderators are discussed as well as actions that might reduce the impact of the bad apple. Implications for both practice and research are discussed” (Felps et al. 2006).

“A single “bad apple” can reduce team performance by 30-40%. That's not a typo – one negative person can slash your team's effectiveness by nearly half” (The Leaders Guide).

“Common defensive mechanisms employees use to cope with a “bad apple” include denial, social withdrawal, anger, anxiety and fear. Trust in the team deteriorates and as the group loses its positive culture, members physically and psychologically disengage themselves from the team” (Gardner, 2007).

Conclusion. One person, a 'bad apple' , can destroy the organizational climate. That person probably suffers from some mental health issue. But because mental health issues are prevalent in Finland, the probability of suffering from bad apple's are equally high.

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More about my expertise:

Executive coaching for CEOs/managers and workshops to facilitate Organizational Performance, Learning, and Creativity for Problem Solving | Lectures: Nutrition for physical and mental health | Course/lecture: children's emotional and social adjustment and cognitive development | Language training - Swedish | Academy Competency | CV | Teaching skills and experience | Summary of research project | Instagram | Linkedin | YouTube-channel | TikTok | Twitter