Opportunist

Opportunism is the practice of taking advantage of circumstances – with little regard for principles or with what the consequences are for others. Opportunist actions are expedient actions guided primarily by self-interested motives. The term can be applied to individual humans and living organisms, groups, organizations, styles, behaviors, and trends.

Opportunism or "opportunistic behaviour" is an important concept in such fields of study as biology, transaction cost economics, game theory, ethics, psychology, sociology and politics.

Definitions

Opportunism is the conscious policy and practice of taking selfish advantage of circumstances.

Although in many societies opportunism often has a strong negative moral connotation, it may also be defined more neutrally as putting self-interest before other interests when there is an opportunity to do so, or flexibly adapting to changing circumstances to maximize self-interest (though usually in a way that negates some principle previously followed).

Opportunism is sometimes defined as the ability to capitalize on the mistakes of others: to exploit opportunities created by the errors, weaknesses or distractions of opponents to one's own advantage.

Taking a realistic or practical approach to a problem can involve "weak" forms of opportunism. For the sake of doing something that will work, or that successfully solves the problem, a previously agreed principle is knowingly compromised or disregarded - with the justification that alternative actions would, overall, have a worse effect.

In choosing or seizing opportunities, human opportunism is most likely to occur where:

* People can make the most gains at the least cost to themselves.
* Relevant internal or external controls on their behavior are absent.
* People are pressured to choose and act.

Criticism of opportunism usually refers to a situation where beliefs and principles are tested or challenged.

Human opportunism should not be confused with "seeking opportunities", or "making use of opportunities when they arise". Opportunism refers to a ''specific way'' of responding to opportunities, which involves the element of self-interestedness and disregard for relevant (ethical) principles, or for intended or previously agreed goals, or for the shared concerns of a group.

However, opportunism is sometimes also redefined by businessmen simply as "the theory of discovering and pursuing opportunities". According to this redefinition, "opportunism" is a euphemism for "entrepreneurship".

Etymology

In the early 19th century, the term "opportunist" as a noun or adjective was already known and used in several European languages, but initially, it rarely referred to political processes or to a political tendency. The English term "opportunism" is possibly borrowed originally from the Italian expression ''opportunismo''. In 19th-century Italian politics, it meant "exploiting the prevailing circumstances or opportunities to gain an immediate advantage for oneself or one's own group". However, it is more likely that the English expression was directly borrowed from the French term, when it began to refer specifically to the opportunist Republicans, since the term first entered the English language in the early 1870s. In this sense the meaning "opportunism" has mutated: from those who claimed to advocate a principle (in the original French case, an amnesty for the Communards) but said that the time was not yet "opportune", to what may be thought of as the opposite - those who act without principle.

In Latin, ''opportunus'' means opportune or favourable (''opportunitas'' = opportunity); the word itself is a contraction of ''ob portus'' ("toward the harbour/entrance") or ''oppositum portus'' ("facing the harbour/entrance").

Moral connotations

As a style of human behavior, opportunism has the connotation of a lack of integrity, or doing something that is out of character (inconsistent). The underlying thought is that the price of the unrestrained pursuit of selfishness is behavioral inconsistency. Thus, opportunism involves compromising some or other principles normally upheld. However, the boundary between "legitimate self-interest" and "undesirable (or anti-social) selfishness" can be difficult to define; the definition relies on perspective.

Some people regard an opportunist stance positively as a legitimate choice. Thus, the British Conservative statesman Stanley Baldwin is supposed to have quipped:

In opportunism, life is viewed as holding an infinite amount of opportunity, where the pattern of one's responses to each defines their identity. It can also be viewed as striving to realize or express certain principles. However, the moral dilemma implied by opportunism concerns the ''conflict'' of self-interest with the interests of others, or with following a principle: either to do what one wants or to do "what is the right thing to do". Thus, substantively, opportunism refers to the acting on opportunities in a self-interested, biased or one-sided manner that ''conflicts'' or ''contrasts'' in some way with one or more general rule, law, norm, or principle.

The fact that the self-interested action evokes this conflict, implies that the tendency to use opportunities to advantage is ''excessive'' or ''improper'', the corollary being a deficiency of character or lack of propriety. Hence the term opportunism often has the pejorative connotation. Moralists may have a distaste for opportunism, insofar as opportunism implies the violation of a moral principle.

Human behaviour

In human behavior, opportunism concerns the relationship between people's actions, and their basic principles when faced with opportunities and challenges. The opportunist seeks to gain a personal advantage when an opportunity presents itself, putting self-interest ahead of some other interest, in a way contrary either to a ''previously established'' principle or another principle that ought to have ''higher priority''. Hence opportunist behavior is usually regarded ''at least'' as questionable or dubious, and ''at most'' as unjustifiable or completely illegitimate. Opportunism is regarded as unhealthy, as a disorder or as a character deficiency, if selfishly pursuing an opportunity is blatantly anti-social (involves disregard for the needs, wishes and interests of others). However, behavior can also be regarded as "opportunist" by scholars without any particular moral evaluation being made or implied (simply as a type of self-interested behavior).

The sociology and psychology of human opportunism is related to the study of gambling behavior, and what kind of motivation and organizational culture is involved. Both the element of risk and opportunity play a role. To be opportunist in behavior, a person or group must:

*refuse to take a risk that would reduce the influence, support, wealth or popularity, even although taking the risk is consistent with the principles the person or group uphold.
*take a risk for the purpose of gaining/maintaining influence, support, wealth or popularity, although taking this risk is inconsistent with the principles being espoused.
*take advantage of an opportunity to increase influence, support, wealth or popularity, although it is not consistent with the principles being upheld.
*refuse to respond to an opportunity, only because responding to it might forfeit influence, support, wealth or popularity, even although taking the opportunity would in truth be consistent with the principles being subscribed to.

Thus, the opportunity exploited for selfish ends can itself exist either because an action is taken, or because of deliberate inaction (when action should really have been taken). The propensity to engage in such kinds of behaviours depends a great deal on the presence or absence of personal characteristics such as integrity, moral character, personal insight or self-awareness, personal flexibility and balance. It also depends on the ability to judge the consequences of different courses of action correctly. Strong emotions and desires may also play a role, and much may depend on how permissive a person, group or organization is (see permissive society). These factors influence the capacity to know "where to draw the line" appropriately, and regulate one's own behavior so that it remains consistent. Much also depends on the beliefs people happen to have about themselves and the world they live in, and on the morale of an organization.

An opportunist's motive always involves an element of selfishness. Psychologically, it follows that opportunism always assumes a basic ability to make one's own choices, and decide to act in a way that serves one's own interest. In turn, that presupposes at least some basic self-motivation, inner direction, inventiveness, and behavioral freedom; subjectively, an opportunist must at least be able to recognize and respond to opportunities when they are there.

Eight main contexts

Personalities and beliefs are shaped by the specific environment where they form. It is likely that the possibilities for opportunist behavior are promoted in contexts where there is not only an incentive to engage in them, but also where it is also extremely difficult for some reason to remain behaviourally consistent, or where ordinary constraints on behavior are lacking. In that case, opportunist behavior does not seem to have much adverse effect or consequence, at least in the short term, compared to the much greater benefits of engaging in it. Eight main contexts are referred to in the literature:

*Power: according to Lord Acton's famous dictum, "all power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". If there are only weak sanctions against unprincipled behavior, this creates a setting where opportunist behavior can flourish, and if the positions of people are very unequal (in terms of power, wealth, status, knowledge or strength) the possibility exists that some will take advantage of the disadvantage of others.
*Advantages: the prevalence of opportunist behavior is likely to be influenced by the perception that the pay-off or advantage of engaging in it, outweighs possible disadvantages or penalties. Opportunism is facilitated if the situation permits an actor to appropriate the gains or advantages to be had from activity to themselves while shifting the costs, blame and disadvantages to others. This may be regarded as unfair competition