10.02.03 What is Responsibility and Accountability?

What is Responsibility and Accountability? 

Many people use responsibility and accountability interchangeably yet the two terms are different.

In courtship or marriage, responsibility refers to fulfilling the necessary roles and obligations required to maintain the relationship. It involves carrying out one’s duties and commitments faithfully; answering the question: Will the person do what a partner and other relevant people expect him or her to do?. Responsibility is also about supporting a partner without being coerced.

Accountability, on the other hand, is being answerable for the results of one’s behaviour, especially if mistakes are made. It governs how a person responds when actions fall short; reflecting the willingness to take responsibility for his or her behaviour and the impact on a partner. Accountability is more commonly corrective and is demonstrated through honest admission, sincere apology and deliberate efforts to repair what has been damaged.