Ethics in Private and Public Relationship

Human beings are social animals. So, we interact with each other and establish some relations when we interact with each other. Gandhi said, “For achieving a non-violent and truthful society, it is important to have a good relationship”.

Four Principles of Public and Private Relationships

Respect
Understanding
Acceptance
Appreciation

Scope of Private Relations

Private relation involves relations with himself, family (spouse, parents, children and other relatives) and friends.

Factors affecting Ethics in dealing with self:
- Having good/bad thinking about self
- The extent of consistency between your words and action
Factors Affecting Ethics in Marital Life:
- Understanding of the uniqueness of spouse
- Imposition of self on spouse
- The extent of freedom given to the spouse
- Extent of possessiveness
- Extent of doubt
- The extent of acceptance of premarital relations of a spouse
- The extent of acceptance of the aspirations of a spouse
- Felling of competition vs cooperation
- The extent of daring to correct your spouse
- The extent of care of your spouse
- The extent of sharing the burden of your spouse
Factor Affecting Ethics in Relations with Friends
- The extent of reposing the trust of the friend
- The extent of support to your friend
- The extent of emotional support to your friend
- The extent of respecting and accepting the values of your friend

Features of Private/Personal Relations/Ethics/Life

Private relations are informal, as no formal procedure is there to regulate such relations.
These are one-to-one relationships, based on emotional bonds and in most cases expression of individual personality is there.
Internal control is there on ethical behaviour rather than external control in the form of laws, rules and regulations.
Ethics in private relations can differ widely from person to person and are often influenced by the morality, emotional state and personal interest of the person involved in such relationships.
Duties in these relations are self-imposed, informal in nature and voluntary.
Ethics shown in private relations often form a major part of individual ethics or morality.
The morality of private relations forms the basis of ethical behaviour in public relations.
Personal relations involve the following values Love, care, respect, trust, responsibility, solidarity, peacefulness, good communication, security, self-sacrifice etc.

Features of Public Relationship

These relations are Predictable and Formal.
The individual perceives themselves as part of the context and not as separate entities.
Legal and social obligations are there. Often the nature of duty in a public relationship is obligatory, externally imposed, formal and sanctioned.
Ethics shown in public relations are often influenced by norms, values and behaviour prevailing in a particular society.
The reach of our public relations is much wider and can impact society at large. Ex. Honesty, openness, integrity, fairness etc.

Differences Between Private and Public Ethics

Basis of comparison	Ethics in private life	Ethics in public life
1. Existence	Private life	Public life
2. Basis	Emotion	Give and take/rules
3. Tolerance for deviation	High	Low
5. Regulation	Low or nil	High
6. Temporal nature	Relatively permanent (commitment to gaol, family partner)	Generally temporary (commitment to duty 9 se 5)
7. Codified rules	No	Yes
8. Professionalism required	No	Yes
7. Values involved	Love and care, Confidentiality, Truthfulness, Responsibility, Perseverance.	Openness, Honesty and integrity, Rule of law, Equality and uniformity, Accountability

Reasons for Separation:

They operate in different domains.
Their mixing may create issues like the entry of private relations into public relations may lead to nepotism, and favouritism on the other hand entry of public relations into private life may lead to undermining the sanctity, privacy and intimacy of private life.
To prevent conflict of interest.
The difference in their nature: public relations are complicated and intense

Problems with Separation

Not separable: Distinguishing ethics in public and private relations is vague, ambiguous, and difficult. Both cannot be divided into watertight compartments.
Not feasible: They consistently interact and affect each other. Ethics in private relations helps in humanizing public relations and plays an important role in forming the moral system of a person.
Not manageable: Conflict between ethics in private and public relations may lead to a build-up of unrest, dissonance and confusion in the mind of the concerned person.
Not desirable: rigid separation may be proved counter-productive. Dishonest in private relations can’t be an honest man in public life.
However, too much congruence between ethics in public and private relations may lead to the stagnation of ideas and change.

Effect of Public Relations on Private Relations

Positive

Inspiration: the compulsion of respect for women in office may motivate a man to treat his wife respectfully.
Value: deceit by colleagues often makes people realize the innocence and greatness of their family members and friends.
Humane: the value of private life like love and care can make your public life more humane

Negative:

Spillover: Fauji Baap -very rigid in the discipline at home
Time management: excess involvement in public life often forces people to cut time from their private life.

Effect of Private Life on Public Life

Positive:

Improve interpersonal relations: one who is honest in private relations is probably more honest in public life.
Positive mood: a healthy private life can promote work efficiency in the office.