The findings of a sociological survey on how Romanians perceive their own sense of responsibility.
In order to gain an accurate picture of how people see the idea of financial responsibility, the Romanian subsidiary of Raiffeisen Bank decided to look at it in the broader context of responsibility in general. To this end, the bank commissioned a sociological survey on responsibility, the findings of which have revealed, once again, paradoxes and disparities in the way Romanians perceive themselves. For example, according to the survey, 97% of Romanians see themselves as responsible people, and 89% of them feel responsible towards society. However, only 8% of respondents said Romanian society on the whole is responsible. The sociologist Barbu Mateescu tells us how these figures can be interpreted:
"What we see here is a very strong dissonance, and we have seen this before, in other anthropological surveys on Romanians' perceptions of common sense. This dissonance may be summarised as follows: I have a given characteristic or value, but very few people share it, apart from myself. As far as responsibility is concerned, just as in other cases as well, there is this perception that I am responsible and I do my job, whereas the others don't."
The sociologist Barbu Mateescu also explains how this perception has taken shape:
"There are two factors. The first one has to do with the communist era and its effects, which include, in all the countries that experienced it, a weakening of people's confidence in the idea of community. Under the communist regime, all communities were structures devoid of meaning. They were established and controlled from the outside, rather than by their own members. The second element is a combination between a highly critical view of society, where things are seen as going very wrong, and a very good opinion on oneself."
A good illustration of this comes from the data on environmental responsibility: 95% of the people feel responsible towards the environment, although their country was fined by the European Union for its defective waste collection and management system. The sociologist Barbu Mateescu explains:
"Responsibility towards the environment is viewed as more important than responsibility towards one's friends, colleagues, superiors and subordinates. It only comes second to responsibility towards one's family. And this responsibility towards the environment is considered to be particularly important in Romania's large cities. In fact, the bigger the city, the more important is the sense of responsibility considered to be. This probably indicates the effects of pollution, which are more severe in a big city like Bucharest than they are in a small one, like Falticeni. But at the same time, most Romanians see environmental responsibility as limited to a very basic level. For example, they may see it as simply the effort to find a bin to throw a piece of litter instead of throwing it on the street. Romanian environmental NGOs have not been particularly active, and there have been few large-scale public debates on environmental topics. Instead, we have only seen isolated topics getting to the forefront of public debate in Romania."
However, these data may also be interpreted in a different key. Responsibility towards the environment is perceived as important by Romanians in the context in which responsibility towards others, such as society, family, people in difficulty, etc, is already high. As many as 98% of Romanians feel responsible towards their family, 92% towards their friends, 91% towards people who are unable to help themselves, 88% towards their colleagues and 85% towards their superiors. Moreover, according to the survey, 98% of the respondents believe being responsible is important in order to be successful. As such, the concept of success itself is understood through the lens of responsibility towards the others, says Barbu Mateescu:
"The Romanian society's main reference point is family and the relationship with its members, parents, spouse and children. Therefore, family cohesion, even in its formal version, and ensuring children's education to help them gain a decent social and financial status as adults are seen as some of the components of success. When it comes to the financial aspects and the definition of financial success, most Romanians are prudent, perhaps due to the latest economic crisis. They believe that having a cautious lifestyle, without debts or with debts that can be paid quickly, is enough for a successful life."
The survey also reflects Romanians' preference for a cautious and responsible lifestyle. Thus, 9 out of 10 Romanians say they pay their dues on time, 8 out of 10 say they only spend as much as they can afford, 6 in 10 people say they plan to make savings and only one third manage to actually save. The sociologist Barbu Mateescu comments:
"I believe responsibility is defined differently depending on specific circumstances. For example, it has a certain definition in a Transylvanian village with considerable local resources and without big unemployment problems and a completely different one in an apparently similar village in Moldavia where there are no jobs available. This situation has led to a massive migration of people from Moldavia to the EU. There are many different situations, therefore responsibility is difficult to define in just a few words. Nevertheless, the attachment to family continues to be a fundamental characteristic. Family is the thread linking all responsible action."
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