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Stockholm startup launches quiz to test your 'Jante level'

The Local Sweden
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Stockholm startup launches quiz to test your 'Jante level'
The Law of Jante is considered an unspoken code of conduct in the Nordic countries. Photo: Per Pixel Petersson/imagebank.sweden.se

Most foreigners in Scandinavia will have their own experiences, good or bad, with the concept of 'Jante'. Now you can complete an online quiz to determine whether your personality and behaviour is in conflict with the unspoken code of conduct.

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The Law of Jante – a fictional set of laws created by Danish-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose in the 1930s – and its ten rules emphasize conformity over individualism, prizing modesty and teamwork, and are often debated in terms of networking and business in the Nordic countries.

Swedish interactive presentation platform Mentimeter has created a quiz to help people can find out how much their personality fits with the Law of Jante. 

Johnny Warström, CEO of Mentimeter explains that the company came up with the idea for the test during a round of recruitment, as debates about the merits and downsides of Jante, and its impact in the working world, kept coming up.

"Some Swedes claim that Jante is what gives us an edge in business. Others state that dropping the Jante is the key to success. As we look to recruit new people, we hear the same contradictory arguments… 'the Stockholm startup scene succeeds in spite of/because of Jante'," Warström said.

"Some of our international users believe that inclusivity is a Swedish thing. We would like to think so. Jante is a social code which seems to confuse everyone outside of Sweden, and be a never ending topic of debate at home," he added.

"At Mentimeter, we don't really have a strong opinion either way or an answer to who has got Jante right (or how relevant it is to doing a job well), but we thought it would be fun to offer anyone the chance to test – for the very first time – their 'Jante level'."

Maria Appelqvist, an academic and author of a book about Jante, assisted with the quiz. The test provides participants with a score, and can be taken in both English and Swedish.

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