Link: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20260901-jantelagen-why-swedes-hate-to-stand-out

The century-old idea of Jantelagen helps explain why Scandinavian cultures prize equality and egalitarian behavior. Building a culture that prizes social welfare, a degree of conformity, and introduces a negative pressure not to distinguish yourself too much from the crowd. There's another interesting article on it here: https://www.scandinaviastandard.com/what-is-janteloven-the-law-of-jante/

Is that common to other Scandinavian countries? Finland, Norway, Denmark?

Obligatory Finland is not part of Scandinavia comment.

Janteloven is just part of culture and not usually something one considers in any way. It boils down to not being a loudmouth, selfish douchebag.

Wow thanks, TIL

From first source on a search

Finnish culture might have been influenced by the Scandinavians over the years and be very closely knit today, but the Finnish language is not even close to the Scandinavian languages. It is part of the Uralic language group (more examples include Estonian and Hungarian), as opposed to the Indo-European language group the Scandinavians are part of.

When I complimented my companion

That's a thing I learned in Sweden. When we worked a night for scheduled maintenance or fixed a hickup in a project in the Netherlands we just went on or went home. Here we smile, say "Bra jobbat!" (Litteral good job, but more in the spirit of you/we did it!) and go for Fika (if possible)

Geography nerds might teach you the word Fennoscandia though

It also boils down to not standing out, not standing up for yourself, better bow than fight.

It's not a miracle pill.

Source: grew up there.

The book it originates from was written by a Norwegian author who lived in Denmark. Jante is in Denmark.

Janteloven absolutely exists in both Denmark and Norway, but it takes on different forms. My personal impression is that it's more hardcore in Denmark - you really should not stand out, to the point where people are extremely uncomfortable with voicing disagreements or standing out in any way. I think Danish xenophobia might also originate partly in Janteloven.

As a Norwegian in Denmark I'm used to dealing with the quirks of Norwegian society, but I find Danish society to be hard to navigate. There are good and bad sides to the law of Jante.

Yeah, no Janteloven is absolutely toxic and should not stand as an example of anything. It was written as a commentary on social control and backwardsness in Denmark in the early 20th century. The commandments are as follows (with my own translation of meaning, not words):

"Du skal ikke tro, du er noget."

• Don’t you believe in yourself

"Du skal ikke tro, at du er lige så meget som os."

• Don’t you believe you are as good as us

"Du skal ikke tro, at du er klogere end os."

• Don’t you believe you are as smart as us

"Du skal ikke bilde dig ind, at du er bedre end os."

• Don’t you tell yourself you’re better than us

"Du skal ikke tro, at du ved mere end os."

• Don’t you believe you know more than us

"Du skal ikke tro, at du er mere end os."

• Don’t you believe you are more than us

"Du skal ikke tro, at du dur til noget."

• Don’t you believe you are good at anything

"Du skal ikke le ad os."

• Don’t you laugh at us

"Du skal ikke tro, at nogen bryder sig om dig."

• Don’t you think anyone likes you

"Du skal ikke tro, at du kan lære os noget."

• Don’t you believe you can teach us anything

Safer to just say "Nordic" right?

It was 4 July, and we discussed why our country didn't celebrate its national day as fervently as Americans. No fireworks, no parades – how come?

"Well, it would be fairly embarrassing wouldn't it?" she said. "All that self-celebration. It's a bit over-the-top,"

I'm from the US and I feel this.

I don't think you need to be taught it. It seems natural (at least for someone who is neurodivergent)