In this blog post, we will examine the reasons for living righteously through the issue of free riding in group projects and explore the significance of ethical behavior for individual happiness and social trust.
Do we have a reason to live right? If someone asks us this question, it would not be easy to answer. In modern society, moral values and ethical standards can vary from person to person and change over time. However, if we think about it in terms of situations similar to our society, the answer to that question becomes easier. In my opinion, we definitely have a reason to live right. The reason can be explained by looking at group assignments, which can be seen as a microcosm of our society, and the free riding that can occur within them.
Free riding in group assignments is a big problem. These days, free riding is recognized as such a big problem that a Sprite commercial depicts a senior student who is free riding being stopped in a very satisfying way. If we look at the fundamental reasons why free riding is a problem, we can come up with ways to prevent it. The superficial problem with free riding is that it increases the amount of work that the rest of the group has to do. However, this is only a superficial problem. The real problem caused by free riding is that it creates discord among group members and breaks trust. No matter how kind the team members are, they will be upset if someone else reaps the benefits of their hard work without making any effort. This can lead to a breakdown in communication between team members and ultimately to the collapse of teamwork.
So, how can we prevent free riding? The first way to prevent free riding is to give mutual evaluation among team members a significant weight in the final evaluation. This is similar to the repeated reciprocity hypothesis. If this method is used, those who try to free ride will not be able to do so because it will be difficult for them to get good grades through mutual evaluation. However, this method alone may cause tension among team members, so it is necessary to create an atmosphere where communication can flow smoothly, allowing team members to get along well and adjust their group task plans according to the situation. However, this method has its limitations. If this method is used, it is difficult to consider it a fundamental solution, as it does not prevent free riding by people who do not care about their grades, such as students who are about to graduate and have already secured employment. Therefore, a more fundamental way to prevent free riding is to create a system that encourages members to take responsibility and participate actively.
The second method is to create altruistic behavior through communication. In other words, it is a method of making people aware of how free riding has a negative impact on the trust between group members through communication. Many free riders often free ride without thinking twice, thinking, “It’s okay if I do it, because I’m just one person.” However, if sufficient and continuous communication among team members makes them understand how such behavior negatively affects the team, and if each member acts conscientiously, free riding can be effectively eliminated. This method not only impresses upon individuals the harm of free riding, but also makes cooperation and effort among team members a matter of course by sharing the goals and values of the group as a whole.
The example of free riding shows us that there are reasons why we should live right. The first reason we should live right is to build trust among members of society. Just like in group projects, we cannot survive alone. Especially nowadays, when everything is done through cooperation and division of labor, it is important to build good relationships with others. So, what is the most important thing in building good relationships with others? It is trust. How can we gain trust? We can gain trust by behaving correctly. When we continue to behave correctly, people will behave correctly toward us based on the reciprocal reciprocity hypothesis, which is one of the roots of altruistic behavior, and this will lead to mutual trust. If we can build trust by consistently acting correctly, we can efficiently carry out various tasks in society and organizations based on that trust, which will benefit all members of that society or organization in the long run. The second reason we should live correctly is because doing so increases the likelihood of forming relationships with people who also live correctly. According to the theory of birds of a feather flock together, good people, or people who live right, are more likely to form relationships with other people who live right. To explain in more detail, communication between members is active within a society or organization. This communication will inevitably include information about other members. At this point, good things will be said about people who behave correctly, and they will gain a good reputation. If this process is repeated many times, information about people with good reputations will reach the ears of other members who live correctly, and those members will strive to form relationships with people who have good reputations. As a result, after sufficient time has passed, people who live correctly and have good reputations will gather together. Within such a group, there will be relatively little conflict and work will proceed smoothly, greatly increasing the profits of the group as a whole. On the contrary, in the opposite situation, where people do not live correctly, the reciprocity hypothesis can be applied. Because they do not live right, they are likely to develop a reputation for causing some degree of harm to others. In that case, according to the reciprocity hypothesis, people who live right may be reluctant to form relationships with people who do not, and as a result, they may suffer significant losses in the long run. It should be noted that many socially successful people have built networks based on such relationships of trust, which have led to various opportunities and growth.
However, although the reasons for living right explained so far are theoretically very appropriate, the problem is that such situations are unlikely to occur in reality. So what are the practical and essential reasons that can be directly applied in reality? It is that living right brings us mental benefits. In our lives, we face situations where living wrongly brings us material benefits. However, when we make choices or take actions in such situations, we consider not only material and short-term benefits, but also psychological and mental benefits, such as conscience and righteousness. In this case, even if we can gain material benefits by living wrongly, we do not act wrongly because the psychological damage caused by acting contrary to our conscience and sense of right and wrong is considerable. In addition, we learn morality through education and experience, and we consider these variables when deciding how to act. Therefore, when we act correctly, we feel a sense of satisfaction and happiness, and when we act incorrectly, we feel negative emotions. These variables, which are inherent in each individual, such as conscience, justice, and morality, are the most important, practical, and essential reasons why we must live correctly.
So far, we have looked at the reasons why we should live right. The reasons why we should live right were similar to the theory of how to prevent free riding. On the surface, we should live right because it brings us direct and indirect material benefits. However, these reasons were problematic in that they were somewhat unrealistic as fundamental reasons. The fundamental reason can be found in the spiritual aspect, that is, the spiritual benefits that living right brings us. In other words, we all have a conscience and a set of moral standards, and it is in our best interest to act based on them. We believe that we must live right because doing so is beneficial to us both materially and, more fundamentally, spiritually. Ultimately, living right contributes not only to individual happiness but also to the well-being and development of society as a whole. Therefore, we must choose to live right not only for ourselves but also for others and for the community.
