What Is Stockholm Syndrome

In Stockholm, two people robbed a bank and held four employees for almost six days. After they were freed, the hostages refused to testify against their captors and spoke more favorably about them than about the police.

The term was coined by a psychiatrist advising the police, and he came up with it in conversation with journalists, not in a scientific paper. The press adopted the wording immediately, and it spread around the world before the phenomenon had been studied.

The main problem with the concept is how rare it is. Even supporters estimate that only a small share of hostages have this reaction, and the data come from individual cases rather than systematic observations.

The third point explains the most. What looks like an irrational attachment from the outside can be clear-headed behavior from the inside: winning over the person you depend on is the best move available.

Another problem is applying the concept to everyday situations. It is used to explain just about everything: relationships, work, dependence on someone close to you. It is a striking metaphor, but it replaces an examination of the specific situation with a ready-made label.

And the label comes at a cost. It shifts attention from the person doing the holding to the person being held, as if the main question were why someone does not leave rather than why they are not being released.