Passion versus commitment

When it comes to marriage in the Western world we let our passion take the lead. We fall in love first, and afterwards, if it seems right, we commit to it by saying the vows. I'm not necessarily saying this is a bad model. I'm not even saying that it is the primary reason for the high divorce rates in the West... Arranged marriages are old fashioned and primitive, and despite the low divorce rates in places where they do arranged marriages, the couples don't actually love each other.

Well, I happen to know some arranged-married-couples who would argue otherwise.

But actually I'm not here to write about marriage; I only planned on talking about passion and commitment. Strange, how did marriage come up?

I was recently thinking about what motivates us to work, especially in the context of volunteerism or the non-profit sector. It feels like it's almost becoming trendy nowadays to be passionate about causes. But is passion the right motivator? From what I know about humans, passion is fleeting. It comes and goes. And that is why we need commitment in (at least) equal measure. Passion without commitment will burn low, fade away, run out and leave us disillusioned.

Yesterday, I asked on Twitter: "Does commitment follow from passion, or does passion result from commitment?" Most people responded, "both," and I agree. As in the case of marrying, passion often leads us to make commitments. But it can also work the other way around. Committing to something can cause passion to grow. And here is why: We tend to be passionate about things that we are good at and know a lot about—things in which we've invested time and energy. (Tweet that!)

Passion waxes and wanes. If you want to cultivate it, commit to something and give it your all. Passion will grow as your expertise grows. As you work towards something for years, gain specialized knowledge about a topic, and become an expert in the field, you will find yourself more passionate about what it is you're doing because you are invested.

Social Capital & European Society

Social capital and its role in society have been defined by many different scholars and writers in different ways. Lyda Hanifan was one of the first to use the term in 1916. Her definition of social capital was, “Those tangible assets [that] count for most in the daily lives of people: namely goodwill, fellowship, sympathy, and social intercourse among the individuals and families who make up a social unit.” Other academics such as Jane Jacobs (1961), Pierre Bourdieu (1983) and James S. Coleman (1988) have done much to carry the concept further over the years. More recently, Robert Putnam has become an important writer on the topic, and is also much responsible for bringing the term into popular use after his 2000 book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. In one of his earlier publications he writes, “social capital refers to features of social organization, such as networks, norms, and trust, that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit” (Putnam, 1993). The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has written much about social capital as it relates to their work. In one of their publications, Brian Keeley (2007) writes, “We can think of social capital as the links, shared values and understandings in society that enable individuals and groups to trust each other and so work together (Keeley, 2007).” It is challenging to bring all these definitions together. For the purpose of this paper, social capital will simply refer to: the values and social norms embedded in a society that create social cohesion, encourages individuals to trust each other and facilitates cooperation.

Europe as a society has been shaped, in large part, by an abundance of social capital that has allowed it to grow and prosper economically. The shared norms and values held by Europeans throughout the centuries—values such as honesty, keeping of commitments, respect for people’s property, safety and security, goodwill, self-sacrifice and reliable performance of duties—which are largely a result of the widespread adoption of Christian tradition, have been an essential, underlying foundation upon which European peoples have cooperated. The networks of trust, or social cohesion, created by these shared norms have enabled Europeans to work together to build an advanced, civilized society that could not have been possible without this abundance. The World Bank Group writes, “social cohesion is critical for societies to prosper economically and for development to be sustainable… [it] is not just the sum of the institutions which underpin a society – it is the glue that holds them together (World Bank, 2011).” Indeed, it was this unique abundance of social capital that led this small peninsula at the tip of Asia to be called by many as simply “The Continent;” it is what has made Europe “Europe,” distinct from its eastern roots (Fountain, 2004).

A growing body of research has demonstrated how social capital contributes towards economic growth and prosperity (e.g. Whiteley, 2000; World Bank, 2011; Iyer, Kitson & Toh 2005). Central to understanding how this works is the idea that certain norms and values (such as the ones mentioned above) actually have economic value in that they foster economically beneficial relationships and cooperation—and in doing so they lower transaction costs (Fukuyama, 2001). It is no coincidence that countries where interpersonal trust is higher and social capital is stronger also have the most developed economies (Knack & Keefer, 1997; Knack, 2002).

A good way to demonstrate how trust and social capital has economic value is to use an illustration. Vishal Mangalwadi, an Indian author and philosopher, describes in one of his books (Mangalwadi, 2009) his first visit to the Netherlands during which time he realized that trust is a valuable economic asset. On this visit while staying in a rural part of the country, his host took him to buy fresh milk. They walked to a neighbouring farm and entered through an unlocked door into the facility where cows were milked. His host proceeded to fill his milk jugs from the vat, and then deposited money into a jar. They proceeded to leave with their milk, never encountering another person during the entire transaction. Mangalwadi was dumbfounded. He did not understand what prevented others from coming to steal the money in the jar, or to at least take the milk for free (not to mention the cows). This brief example shows how social capital can contribute to economic prosperity—but also how fragile it is. Because the milk farmer trusted his neighbours to pay for their milk without supervision, it lowered the transaction costs. Conversely, if the farmer at some point experienced theft, he may lose trust and take precautions by hiring someone to manage the transactions, ultimately leading to an increase in the price of milk. Taking the argument even further, if the hired worker were not himself trustworthy, and only made rational decisions based upon his own return on investment, he might begin pocketing some of the money. Continuing to lose, the milk farmer may be tempted to boost profits by watering down his milk. His customers would then be forced to create a regulatory institution that could ensure quality—further hiking up prices. This scenario shows, albeit on a very small scale, how social cohesion has economic benefit, and how the breakdown of trust in an economy can have detrimental and far-reaching effects. Mangalwadi realized what European communities had that was largely lacking in his own country, and what was responsible for the relative difference in economic prosperity: social capital.

The breakdown of the trust relationship between public transport companies and those using public transport in the Netherlands was one of the main reasons for the introduction of the OV chip card system, and serves an example of how social cohesion is deteriorating in Europe. The system, which cost a fortune to implement, was a rational response by the public transport companies in the face of profit losses due to fraud on the part of commuters who could no longer be trusted to “punch in” with their strippenkaart (Thales Group, 2011). By deviating from the social norms (namely honesty and trustworthiness), and cheating the system, the very consumers who tried to avoid costs to themselves in the short term, effectively caused the prices of public transport to increase for the entire society. Similar phenomenon can be observed throughout Europe in the corporate world and even politics. As people place less value on the social norms that have helped to shape Europe, social cohesion deteriorates and people trust each other less. As social cohesion breaks down, individuals tend to make decisions based solely on their personal rate of return rather than what is beneficial or “right” for the network in which they are embedded.

There are numerous reasons why social capital can be said to be on the decline in Europe. One of the main reasons is the diminishing role of the family in society. Increasingly more children are growing up with only one parent, or with parents that do not live together (Morgan & Zippel, 2003). Additionally it is increasingly more common that both parents work, and therefore invest less time with their children. Traditionally, the family has played the greatest role in passing on important social values and norms that constitute social capital (Putnam, 2000). Another possible reason for the decline may be decreased involvement with religious institutions. Increasingly fewer Europeans affiliate themselves with religious beliefs (Pollack, 2008). Religious institutions have been shown to play an important role in the development of social capital (Fukuyama, 2001).

The reasons why these values and social norms are disappearing are many and varied, but the results are clear: trust disappears, and transaction costs increase as problems like corruption, bribery, fraud and criminality take their place. Studies have shown that corruption raises the cost of capital and uncertainty in the economy (Gray & Kaufman, 1998), and some studies have shown that corruption is even spreading in Western Europe (Porta, 1997). On the other hand however, the same study shows that society is also becoming more concerned about problems like corruption and wants to do more to fight them. Also, while many of the traditional values that have contributed to social capital are on the decline, other values such as tolerance, environmentalism and social responsibility are on the rise in Europe. Additionally, the average economic and social well-being in much of Western Europe has been steady or on the rise.

How does one reconcile these seemingly inconsistent trends? Perhaps social capital is merely changing form. One other possibility is that Europe is not yet fully experiencing the effects of its steady decline in social capital, but is still reaping the benefits of the strong social cohesion created by prior generations. If this is the case, it is only a matter of time until Europe undergoes a painful transformation. As social capital continues to decline, it may be that Europe no longer finds itself positioned next to the United States at the forefront of the global economy.

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