Trust and the Us-Them Mentality
Oxytocin is a hormone released by the hypothalamus portion of the brain
which, among other things, makes people trust each other more. In other
words, one could argue that local government ethics seeks to increase
the release of oxytocin in the brains of people when they think about
their local government.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/science/11hormone.html" target="”_blank”">An
article in today's New York <i>Times</i></a> discusses a study that shows how
the positive effects of oxytocin tend to be limited to an individual's
in-group. The study focuses on ethnicity, but it would seem to apply
equally to any us-them division.<br>
<br>
While government ethics tends to focus on the public's trust in
government, which is essential to citizens' participation in their
local government as well as to their support for what their government is
trying to accomplish in the community, trust – and the lack of trust –
is also important within the government. Nothing creates a worse ethics
environment than the strong feelings of loyalty that accompany an
us-them mentality.<br>
<br>
One of the strongest memories from my first involvement in my town's
local government is a high-level official telling me, with incredible
scorn in his voice, that the people of the town just wanted to vote
down every budget, despite the fact that budgets with sizeable property
tax hikes had recently passed. I realized that there doesn't have to be
an actual us-them conflict for officials to believe they are in a war
against their own community. Instead, it is important for many
individuals to manufacture an us-them situation in order to justify
their self-serving actions to themselves, and to each other. All is
fair in war, especially when you know what your town needs, and those
who stand in your way do not.<br>
<br>
With this mentality, the same individual, along with his colleagues,
could justify large no-bid contracts, games played with the budget, and
the use of intimidation and personal attack to keep the ignorant,
selfish public at bay. You could practically hear the oxytocin being
released from the hypothalami of this closed in-group of officials who
could trust each other, and no one else. They could trust each other to
support their ploys and cover-ups, and never to snitch, never to
apologize, and never to let their consciences get the best of them.<br>
<br>
A thing like trust is best when it is open and worst when it is closed.
People trusting in those who run their community, when the trust is
deserved, is a good thing. People in a local government trusting only
those in their circle, and working hard to portray themselves as
trustworthy, is a horrible thing.<br>
<br>
Called "the hormone of love," it looks like oxytocin is also the
hormone of self-interest. It is tied to romance and monogamy, which are
good things, but in a government context, the equivalent of monogamy is
a bad thing. In fact, a lot of government ethics matters arise out of
good familial and romantic relationships, which can cause a lot of
problems in any organization, but especially in a government.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
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