[LST] When role models fail

http://www.business-standard.com/article/printer-friendly-version?article_id=113060200485_1


Subir Gokarn | New Delhi June 02, 2013 Last Updated at 21:50 IST
When role models failThe steady erosion of role models could have
wider social consequences

The past few months, we seem to have been inundated by events that
suggest a complete moral breakdown. From politicians to sportspersons,
businesspersons to film personalities, public servants to lawyers,
there hasn't been a day when the headlines have not put the spotlight
on one or the other outrage alleged to have been perpetrated by one or
more representatives of these and more groups. Public scepticism has
apparently reached a point where even mere allegations are taken as
proof of guilt. It is all very well to wring our hands and bemoan the
horrendous levels to which the conduct of public figures has fallen.
But one has to ask whether these patterns have wider and enduring
social consequences beyond mass outrage. I believe they do.

A simple view of social norms and behavioural patterns would suggest
that they depend significantly on ideal types, or role models, and
imitation. Values are abstractions, but societies need them to
function. It is difficult to mass communicate abstract concepts, so
some form of embodiment or personification is required. Every society
has its mythology, which is, in fact, the most enduring form of
dissemination of role models and the norms and behaviour patterns
associated with them. The message is that if one wants to be a "good"
member of society, then one should assimilate the values upheld by the
mythological role models and try and behave as they do. This may be a
distant target, unreachable to the average person, but it is something
that everybody is encouraged to strive for.

Of course, times and circumstances change, which inevitably means
changes in values or norms and socially responsible behaviour
patterns. Social stability, then, is the outcome of a society's
ability to balance the continuity inherent in "traditional" values,
essentially those propagated by the mythology, with the new or
"modern" values and behaviours that emerge from changing
circumstances. Obviously, societies experiencing rapid change, as a
result of accelerating economic growth for example, could find it very
challenging to maintain that balance. What is the average person to do
in such a situation? Where does one go for guidance about how to find
the right balance? What should one retain of the traditional values
and assimilate of the modern ones?

Role models play a critical role in this process. Every situation
gives rise to a variety of people whose accomplishments make them
public figures and whose words and actions provide a blueprint for
those of us looking to maintain the balance between different, and
often conflicting, sets of values. Unlike their mythological
counterparts, who endure as role models because their circumstances
are bounded by their stories, real-world role models change with the
times. Different circumstances call for different combinations of
tradition and modernity. However, from the viewpoint of social
stability or non-disruptive change, there has to be a common thread
running through the pattern of change. All role models must be widely
perceived to align values consistent with social stability with their
behaviour and actions.

What are the potential consequences of values and behaviour becoming
misaligned? As the cliche goes, actions speak louder than words.
Values are abstract; behaviour is visible and tangible. The actions of
role models, in a sense, "reveal" their values and beliefs more than
anything they say ever can. The fact that they act and behave in
certain ways legitimises these actions and behaviours and virtually
guarantees that it becomes the norm for the average person.

In effect, the misalignment between professed values and observed
behaviour completely undermines the power of moral authority. If, for
example, the highest levels of political and bureaucratic leadership
are seen to be acting in certain ways, it is virtually certain that
such behaviour will be imitated by the lower levels. It may provoke
some ethical conflicts within individuals, but "they're doing it and
getting away with it, so why not me" is a powerful counter-argument.

A lot of attention has been focused on the economic incentives for
corruption among public servants. The need to mobilise resources for
funding elections is, of course, a significant driver. The policy
implication of this is simple: provide state funding and audit party
finances. However, the moral authority argument goes beyond economic
incentives and disincentives. It essentially suggests that as long as
the highest levels of the system - the role models - are seen to be
acting and behaving in certain ways, there is very little prospect
that the rest of the system will behave any differently or, for that
matter, can be persuaded to do so by arguments based on abstract
values.

The same issue arises in other domains as well. If the top management
of a company is perceived to run its business in a certain way, no
amount of recourse to notions like ethics or governance is going to
come in the way of lower tiers imitating their bosses, particularly if
such behaviour translates into better financial performance. For that
matter, if team managements are seen to be engaging in betting or
fixing, why should it come as a surprise when players do the same?

All the groups I mentioned in the opening paragraph are role models,
not just in the form of individual members but in a larger sense as
professions of high stature. One could argue that the actions of a few
members of these groups do not tarnish their reputations and role
model status; that the many members of these groups who continue to
align their values with their actions help preserve their
effectiveness as role models. Perhaps. But then if prominent and
successful members of a professional group are perceived to acting in
certain ways, imitative behaviour is likely to spread this across the
group. Role models could just as easily turn negative, first within
the group and then spreading beyond it.

The bottom line is that while resignations, legal actions and severe
penalties are all appropriate, they may not be enough to counter the
spread of behaviour by imitation and, more importantly, the values
associated with that behaviour. As with any complex issue, 360-degree
solutions are required. But we must first agree on the proposition
that the steady erosion of positive role models does threaten social
stability.

The writer is director of research, Brookings India, and former deputy
governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

These views are personal
--
Saurav Datta

Twitter: SauravDatta29
Mobile : +91-9930966518

"To those who believe in resistance, who live between hope and
impatience and have learned the perils of being unreasonable. To those
who understand enough to be afraid and yet retain their fury."

Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "LST-LAW SCHOOL TUTORIALS" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to clat-11+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.