Jante Law

Written by Hanne Tholstrup

The Jante-Law origins from a Danish-Norwegian author named Aksel Sandemose. In his book “A refuge crosses his trail” (in Norwegian 1933, in Danish 1938) he describes Ten Commandments with overall theme is: Who do you think you are? Or: Don't think you are better than us! The commandments originate from his fathers tea-to-all´er and all included the phrase: If you drink don’t ´think/believe.... However, today the drinking issue has been neglected and the Jante Law operates on a more subconscious level, which may be difficult to spot for a foreigner and is probably quite foreign to an American.

But any display of being satisfied with your own success or boasting – or e.g. in the job interview coming across as a Super(wo)man will discredit you. For instance politeness is a huge thing, if someone expresses a compliment to you; the correct way to handle this is not to say: “Thank you so much”. It is to say: “Oh this is nothing”. This works also with close friends – my own two best friends, women who usually support me, find that I am too demanding in salary negotiations. So they say to me that I ought to understand that not everybody can honour my demands, and that I should be happy with the offers made.

So they do not support me in aiming higher and higher, but rather they believe that I should stand firmly on the ground and be more humble in my attitude. These are my best friends!
My advice to the Jante Law concept is this: Know the Jante-law, recognise it and then carry on with your own stuff as usual. Instead use clarifying statements like: “In the US we usually do/consider x..., since I am new in this culture, how do you consider/do x? Could you help me to understand X better, so that I avoid...”. Ask for guidance and clarification from the Dane. This invites him/her into the conversation and opens the window for true cross cultural understanding.

First the Jante Law's Ten Commandments*

  • Don't think you are somebody
  • Don’t believe that your are as good as us
  • Don't believe that you are smarter than us
  • Don't believe that you are better than us
  • Don't believe that you know more than us
  • Don't believe that you are more than us
  • Don't believe that you a good at anything
  • Don't laugh at us
  • Don't think that anybody cares for you
  • Don't believe that you can teach us anything


    • *In a free translation by Hanne. Bear in mind that you may substitute think with believe.

    Then know the positive version to the Jante Law

    I find that the appropriate antidote to the Jante Law is the following nine commandments, written by an unknown author. Know these and base your cross cultural experience on them and this will help you to adjust much better with a positive frame of mind.

  • Know that we count on you
  • Know that at least four to five people close to you depend on you
  • Know that we know that there is something good an valuable in you that we need
  • Know that you have qualities that we like and admire
  • Know that we also know the feelings of lack of importance, value, loneliness and failure
  • Know that you belong with us
  • Know that that we will do a lot for you
  • You must believe that your own life and our society depend on your effort
  • We – you and I – can solve the problems together

    • Read the sections of Intercultural competencies in a Danish environment:

    Other relevant career links:






     

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