In order to gain an accurate picture of how people see the idea of financial
\nresponsibility, the Romanian subsidiary of Raiffeisen Bank decided to look at
\nit in the broader context of responsibility in general. To this end, the bank
\ncommissioned a sociological survey on responsibility, the findings of which
\nhave revealed, once again, paradoxes and disparities in the way Romanians
\nperceive themselves. For example, according to the survey, 97% of Romanians see
\nthemselves as responsible people, and 89% of them feel responsible towards
\nsociety. However, only 8% of respondents said Romanian society on the whole is
\nresponsible. The sociologist Barbu Mateescu tells us how these figures can be
\ninterpreted:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
What we see here is a very strong dissonance, and we
\nhave seen this before, in other anthropological surveys on Romanians’
\nperceptions of common sense. This dissonance may be summarised as follows: I
\nhave a given characteristic or value, but very few people share it, apart from
\nmyself. As far as responsibility is concerned, just as in other cases as well,
\nthere is this perception that I am responsible and I do my job, whereas the others
\ndon’t. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The sociologist Barbu Mateescu also explains how this
\nperception has taken shape:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There are two factors. The first one has to do with
\nthe communist era and its effects, which include, in all the countries that
\nexperienced it, a weakening of people’s confidence in the idea of community.
\nUnder the communist regime, all communities were structures devoid of meaning.
\nThey were established and controlled from the outside, rather than by their own
\nmembers. The second element is a combination between a highly critical view of
\nsociety, where things are seen as going very wrong, and a very good opinion on
\noneself.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A good illustration of this comes from the data on
\nenvironmental responsibility: 95% of the people feel responsible towards the
\nenvironment, although their country was fined by the European Union for its
\ndefective waste collection and management system. The sociologist Barbu
\nMateescu explains:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Responsibility towards the environment is viewed as
\nmore important than responsibility towards one’s friends, colleagues, superiors
\nand subordinates. It only comes second to responsibility towards one’s family.
\nAnd this responsibility towards the environment is considered to be
\nparticularly important in Romania’s large cities. In fact, the bigger the city,
\nthe more important is the sense of responsibility considered to be. This
\nprobably indicates the effects of pollution, which are more severe in a big
\ncity like Bucharest than they are in a small one, like Falticeni. But at the
\nsame time, most Romanians see environmental responsibility as limited to a very
\nbasic level. For example, they may see it as simply the effort to find a bin to
\nthrow a piece of litter instead of throwing it on the street. Romanian
\nenvironmental NGOs have not been particularly active, and there have been few
\nlarge-scale public debates on environmental topics. Instead, we have only seen
\nisolated topics getting to the forefront of public debate in Romania.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
However, these data may also be interpreted in a
\ndifferent key. Responsibility towards the environment is perceived as important
\nby Romanians in the context in which responsibility towards others, such as
\nsociety, family, people in difficulty, etc, is already high. As many as 98% of
\nRomanians feel responsible towards their family, 92% towards their friends, 91%
\ntowards people who are unable to help themselves, 88% towards their colleagues
\nand 85% towards their superiors. Moreover, according to the survey, 98% of the
\nrespondents believe being responsible is important in order to be successful.
\nAs such, the concept of success itself is understood through the lens of
\nresponsibility towards the others, says Barbu Mateescu:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Romanian society’s main reference point is family
\nand the relationship with its members, parents, spouse and children. Therefore,
\nfamily cohesion, even in its formal version, and ensuring children’s education
\nto help them gain a decent social and financial status as adults are seen as
\nsome of the components of success. When it comes to the financial aspects and the
\ndefinition of financial success, most Romanians are prudent, perhaps due to the
\nlatest economic crisis. They believe that having a cautious lifestyle, without
\ndebts or with debts that can be paid quickly, is enough for a successful life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The survey also reflects Romanians’ preference for a
\ncautious and responsible lifestyle. Thus, 9 out of 10 Romanians say they pay
\ntheir dues on time, 8 out of 10 say they only spend as much as they can afford,
\n6 in 10 people say they plan to make savings and only one third manage to
\nactually save. The sociologist Barbu Mateescu comments:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I believe responsibility is defined differently
\ndepending on specific circumstances. For example, it has a certain definition
\nin a Transylvanian village with considerable local resources and without big
\nunemployment problems and a completely different one in an apparently similar
\nvillage in Moldavia where there are no jobs available. This situation has led
\nto a massive migration of people from Moldavia to the EU. There are many different
\nsituations, therefore responsibility is difficult to define in just a few
\nwords. Nevertheless, the attachment to family continues to be a fundamental
\ncharacteristic. Family is the thread linking all responsible action. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The findings of a sociological survey on how Romanians perceive their own sense of responsibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":142650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[33759],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-142649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-responsibility"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n