Global Psyche: Laid-Back (and Working Hard at It)

I was in an English boathouse talking to a woman named Juliet when a spider swung into view. Juliet, a Brit, squeaked. I shrugged and said, "It's so little!" I'm from Australia. In Melbourne we breed tarantulas as big as cars. As much as my continent is distinguished by its wealth of threatening wildlife, my people are known for our relaxed attitude toward it. If it were possible for all Australians to be united by a single trait, it would be being laid-back in the face of danger and, well, also non-danger. Confronted by pretty much anything at all, we like to respond one way: "No worries."

It's not that we don't care about spider-dodging. Rather, the point is that it be informal and without tension.

Aussie nonchalance began with the 19th-century stereotype of the Australian bush settler, always stoic in the face of drought, flood, and other calamity. Most of the population now thrives in cities along the coast, yet we still value not getting ruffled easily. This can lead to international confusion. Early in our marriage, I told my American husband that in the 1960s Australia lost its prime minister as he swam off Cheviot Beach. "What do you mean you 'lost' him?" demanded my husband. I didn't understand his outrage. "He went for a swim. He never came back. It just happened."

The best part of taking it easy is four weeks of holiday a year. The dark side of the laid-back ethos is a strong culture of teasing that shades all too easily into bullying. When I grew up, children trained one another to tone it down with an excessive amount of taunting—and it doesn't stop with childhood.

At its worst, being laid-back has given rise to Australia's infamous "tall poppy syndrome," where people who achieve great public success are not celebrated but knocked. We become small and mean when our high achievers don't pretend to be laid-back, instead exposing their hunger to make a splash. Perhaps, after all, we are not so casual about being casual.—Christine Kenneally

Blame It on the Bush Settler

• "Much of [Aussie nonchalance] may be derived from its colonial past and convict history, when survival was a true test of character," says Fiona White, a psychologist at the University of Sydney. "The 'little Aussie battler' is a common phrase."
• "There's historical truth to it," says Nick Haslam, a psychologist at the University of Melbourne. "There is this cultural icon of the (male) settler facing hardship with a laconic sense of humor and a 'she'll be all right, mate' demeanor."
• Winnifred Louis, a psychologist at University of Queensland, suggests another factor. "Originally there may have been a polarization away from the stereotype of British people as constantly complaining."—Matthew Hutson