Return to search

Er legitimitet ligger i vårt intresse : En kvalitativ fallstudie om unga vuxnas uppfattning av Folkhälsomyndighetens legitimitet i covid-19-pandemin

The covid-19 pandemic in Sweden is characterized by high uncertainty and risk. Health experts and authorities play a central part in informing and guiding the public’s responses to a pandemic. But to have the right to operate, an organization’s legitimacy is important. How does a health expert authority get people to follow the guidelines to ensure public health efforts success in the covid-19 pandemic?   This case study focused on Folkhälsomyndigheten’s perceived legitimacy by young adults in Sweden during the covid-19 pandemic, by understanding if Folkhälsomyndigheten was perceived as a legitimate expert and how their legitimacy was constituted through their conveying of risk. Hence, we aimed to contribute to health and crisis communication by adopting a public-centered approach to the constitution of legitimacy.   The empirical data was collected through three online focus group interviews with 20-24-year-olds. Suchman’s legitimacy theory and Giddens’s notion of the postindustrial risk society was used the analyze the results. Through a thematic analysis, we discovered a total of 12 themes distributed over 3 dimensions, showing that Folkhälsomyndigheten’s legitimacy was constituted on the premises of pragmatic legitimacy, based on the self-interest of the public. We could conclude that Folkhälsomyndigheten was viewed as a legitimate expert because of their status as an institutionalized health authority, and that the legitimacy of their expert position role was grounded in a democratic mindset. Folkhälsomyndigheten’s legitimacy was, through procedures, representatives, and human attributes, constituted by organizing the unstable situation for the young adults to gain a feeling of stability.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-414017
Date January 2020
CreatorsBäckström, Sanna, Ohlsson, Amanda
PublisherUppsala universitet, Institutionen för informatik och media, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för informatik och media
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageSwedish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Page generated in 0.0019 seconds