Professions we don't trust
Swedes do not put much trust in real estate agents. As a matter of fact, only 8 percent of Swedes trust them. Just as few trust journalists. Even so, it was worse in 2010, when only 5 percent had any faith in real estate agents, according to a survey conducted on behalf of the real estate agency Fastighetsbyrån. “It’s somewhat better, but still low,” says Lars-Erik Nykvist, managing director at Fastighetsbyrån. “Once you’ve met us in person, we get better numbers. But we work in a business based much on trust so it’s important to influence trust for the entire business.” It’s worse for car dealers, stockbrokers and politicians, though. Only 4 percent have any trust in them. Swedes have much more confidence in doctors: 55 percent say they trust doctors, and 47 percent trust police, which is a decrease since 2010 when the result was 50 percent. Nykvist believes the slight increase in trust in real estate agents can be explained by a better and clearer legislation, and that the business has worked on the problem with specially reduced prices and introduced accepted price. The image of a real estate agent making quick and easy business and loads of money has also changed, simply because it is no longer true. And Swedes' confidence in journalists, though low, has also increased somewhat since 2010, when only 4 percent put any trust into that profession.

Practice being nice
It has been suggested that pregnant women in Sweden carry a "Baby on board" pin on their blouses or jackets in order to get the respect they deserve on trains and buses. But expert in manners, Magdalena Ribbing at daily DN, shakes her head at such an idea. “No, I think it’s unnecessary to communicate one’s physical status in such a way. A pregnancy shouldn’t have to be used as an excuse, people ought to respect it if you need to sit down regardless of reason. If you’re pregnant and need to sit down, then you simply say: ‘Excuse me may I sit here?’” And how do you know when to give your seat to someone else? Says Ribbing: “There ought to be some natural kind of empathy, nobody should have to inform you. But you can ask: ‘Do you need to sit down? I’ve no problem standing.’ It’s difficult for people to be nice, so I recommend people practice at home in front of a mirror.” What if the woman is not pregnant but just overweight. How do you act then, so as to not make any faux pas? “When the woman wants to tell you, she will tell you without you having to ask her. Otherwise you can always say: ‘How are you doing, nice to see you!’”

Scent of a woman .. and a man
There are fragrances for women and fragrances for men. But what happens if you remove the labels from the bottles? Anna Lindqvist, PhD, of the department of psychology at Stockholm University, wanted to know what would happen if the visual cues were removed from perfume, leaving only the scent. “The result was that the people in the test could not smell a difference in the perfumes,” Lindqvist says to Metro. The test persons were first asked to choose how they themselves wanted to smell. Later they got to choose how they wanted their partner to smell. And that’s when Lindqvist discovered they tended to pick the same fragrance for themselves as for their partner. “Without the packaging which is gender typical, we want to use the same scents. Most fragrances were construed as unisex,” explains Lindqvist. Her thesis was based on three studies with 20 people in each.