The overall aim of this thesis was to broaden the understanding of the concept of loyalty within a military context, by focusing on how the nature of loyalty is experienced, how it can be measured and how it can be predicted. To achieve this, the thesis was structured in three interrelated studies, which initially aimed to examine the content of loyalty within the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF), then to develop and validate a scale to measure loyalty, and finally to examine possible predictors of loyalty.

The aim of Study I was to examine how loyalty is experienced within the SAF. To achieve this, Study I examined how high-ranking officers – presumed to have a large influence on professional ethics within the SAF – gave meaning to their experiences of loyalty. The results showed that although the nature of loyalty in the military organization is based on a strong identification with the profession, loyalty is a multifaceted phenomenon which requires the individual to manage competing and sometimes counteracting domains (objects) of loyalty.

The aim of Study II was to develop a psychometric scale for measuring loyalty in a military context, based on the findings of Study I. Given the complex and varying nature of loyalty and dealing with different domains of loyalty in the military, the scale was developed to consider several domains for an individual’s loyalty (e.g., workgroup, mission, nation). Additionally, there was a focus on the overall nature of loyalty involving sacrifice and action to protect the domain of loyalty. To achieve this, three independent samples, consisting of military personnel (in training and on overseas mission), were invited to answer a questionnaire based on the results from Study I. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in a scale measuring loyalty, denoted the Swedish Military Loyalty Scale (SMiLS). The SMiLS was found to consist of a four-dimensional representation of the willingness to act loyally. The dimensions are sectioned in loyal sacrifice and loyal action, further divided into moderate and extreme loyal sacrifice and loyal action, respectively.

The aim of Study III was to examine how individuals’ willingness to act loyally to certain domains (the closest workgroup, the unit, and the unit mission) can be predicted by social identity fusion and developmental leadership. To achieve this, a sample consisting of military personnel serving on an overseas mission in Mali, took part in a survey, using the SMiLS as the dependent variable. Demographic factors, such as rank and gender, were also examined, taking the outcome of loyalty into consideration. The results show that social identity mainly predicted the sacrificial dimensions of loyalty, while developmental leadership predicted all dimensions of loyalty for all domains.

In conclusion, the present thesis broadens the understanding of loyalty within a military context. It also contributes with a scale for measuring loyalty and identifies two predictors for loyalty. Further research should focus on a deepened understanding of loyalty within the military and in the context of total defense organizations, further validation of the SMiLS and the examination of additional possible predictors for loyalty.

Det övergripande syftet med denna avhandling var att bredda förståelsen för begreppet lojalitet inom en militär kontext. Detta gjordes genom att undersöka hur lojalitet upplevs, hur den kan mätas och hur den kan prediceras. Avhandlingen består av tre sammanhängande delstudier.

Syftet med Studie I var att undersöka hur lojalitet upplevs inom (den svenska) Försvarsmakten. I denna studie genomfördes intervjuer för att undersöka hur höga officerare på inflytelserika befattningar skapade mening av sina upplevelser av lojalitet inom yrket och inom organisationen. Resultaten av denna studie visade att lojalitet inom den militära organisationen kan grunda sig på en stark identifikation med yrket och att lojalitet är en mångfacetterad konstruktion som kräver att individen kan hantera olika lojaliteter, som ibland kan vara både konkurrerande och motverka varandra.

Syftet med Studie II var att, med utgångspunkt i resultaten från Studie I, utveckla en psykometriskt validerad skala för att mäta lojalitet i en militär kontext. Med tanke på lojalitetens komplexa och varierande natur, samt individens behov av att hantera flera olika lojalitetsobjekt samtidigt, utvecklades skalan för att kunna fungera för flera olika lojalitetsobjekt (t.ex. en arbetsgrupp, ett uppdrag, eller nationen Sverige). Utöver det undersöktes två aspekter av lojalitet; viljan till uppoffring och viljan till utåtriktat agerande till gagn för ett lojalitetsobjekt. I studien användes tre oberoende urval bestående av militär personal, där två bestod av officerare från en av Försvarshögskolans nivåhöjande kurser och det tredje var ett förband på utlandstjänstgöring i Mali. Deltagarna fick besvara en enkät baserat på resultaten från Studie I och tidigare forskning inom området. Resultatet av Studie II utvecklades till en skala för mätning av lojalitet, benämnd Swedish Military Loyalty Scale (SMiLS). SMiLS utgörs av en fyrdimensionell representation av lojalitet. Dimensionerna är indelade i moderat respektive extrem offervilja samt moderat respektive extrem vilja till utåtriktat agerande. 

Syftet med Studie III var att undersöka om individers vilja att agera lojalt gentemot vissa objekt (den närmaste arbetsgruppen, det egna förbandet, samt förbandets uppdrag) kan prediceras av social identitetsfusion och utvecklande ledarskap. Deltagare från ett militärt förband på utlandsuppdrag i Mali fick delta i en enkätundersökning baserad på SMiLS. Resultaten av Studie III visade att både social identitet och utvecklande ledarskap kunde predicera lojalitet.

Resultaten av denna avhandling bidrar till att vidga förståelsen för fenomenet lojalitet inom en militär organisation. Den vidgade förståelsen består av tre delar: en fördjupad beskrivning av lojalitetens natur inom den militära professionen och organisation, en fyrdimensionell modell av hur lojalitet kan mätas (SMiLS) samt kunskapen om att social identitetsfusion och utvecklande ledarskap är tydligt relaterade till lojalitet. Fortsatt forskning inom området bör fokusera på en fördjupad förståelse för lojalitet dels inom militären, dels inom ramen för totalförsvar. Vidare behövs ytterligare validering av mätskalan SMiLS samt en fortsatt undersökning av fler möjliga faktorer som kan predicera lojalitet.

Military organizations often emphasize the importance of loyalty. It has been suggested that loyalty enhances motivation to take great risks and strive to accomplish a mission. However, research into what influences loyalty among military personnel is scarce. Hence, the aim of this study was to examine how leadership and social identity fusion relate to loyalty, using data from a sample consisting of a Swedish military unit on a United Nation mission (N = 152) in Mali. Hierarchical multiple regression results generally showed that social identity fusion and leadership were positively related to a willingness to show loyalty to the closest workgroup, one’s own unit, and the mission. The findings indicate that leadership and high levels of social identity fusion may influence the willingness to be loyal to organizational goals. The practical implication of this study is increased knowledge about the importance of leadership and social identity in developing relevant loyalties.

Organizations need co-workers who are committed to common goals and that are loyal to the core values of the organization.1 The conscious fostering of organizational core values is seen as an important tool in creating loyal co-workers and hence an effective organization.2 Professions with a strong vocational calling such as medicine (Kallin, 2010), the police (Ewin, 1990; Foust, 2018) or the military3 have particular demands on loyalty to certain core values, and individuals are expected to adopt these as their own. However, organizational core values can be contradictive (Billig, 1988) and sometimes in conflict with the individual´s own core values which – when incompatible – can in turn cause severe moral stress and mental illness.4 This implies a need for clarification about what is expected from members of an organization concerning the objectives and manifestations of core values. In terms of loyalty, the military profession is possibly one of the most demanding, expecting individuals to risk their own lives and to kill other human beings for the benefit of the organizational goals. However, since misplaced loyalty can cause destructive,5 and unethical behaviour6 with enormous consequences – especially in the military (Winslow, 1998) – there is a need to be clear about what kind of loyalty behaviour is constructive and vice versa. Although loyalty is a concept that seems to be defined in many different ways, the number of studies of loyalty and its meaning are quite limited - especially in military research.7 The overall purpose of this study is to broaden understanding of the meaning of loyalty within the military. Because important core values of an organization are set – or strongly influenced8 – by its leaders,9 the aim of this study was to explore how high ranking officers in the Swedish Aarmed Forces (SAF) give meaning to their own personal experiences of loyalty and to describe possible common patterns within the participant group.

Purpose: In many organizations, loyalty towards the organization and the organizational goals is a highly desired virtue. The vague and sometimes romanticized definitions of loyalty makes the phenomenon difficult both to define and to measure. The present study evaluates a measure of loyalty developed for the military context.

Design/Methodology: Four preliminary dimensions of loyalty were derived from a thematic analysis of interviews with 10 top military managers within the Swedish armed forces. A questionnaire developed on basis of these dimensions was developed, and then pilottested using exploratory factor analysis. The resulting measure will be tested using confirmatory factor analysis in a military unit preparing for an international peacekeeping mission in Mali.

Results: The analyses are ongoing. After the initial pilot test with 160 military officers attending a course at the Swedish Defence University the four main latent variables were defined as: Loyalty and Self-sacrificial attitude (6 items); Loyalty and Extended actions (6 items); Loyalty and Whistleblowing (6 items); Loyalty and Duty (10 items).

Limitations: The sample sizes so far are limited (150-200 participators). Further studies using larger sample sizes are necessary to validate the generalizability of the scale.

Implications: This study contributes to a better understanding of the conception of loyalty within organizations that operate in extreme contexts.

Originality: While there exist many measures of loyalty to organizations, this one of few studies developing a scale for the conception of loyalty in military settings.

Purpose: Loyalty is an ambiguous and complex phenomenon that may set the individual in dilemmatic situations. One assumption is that the individual’s level of fusion with his or her social identities also indicates where the individual’s strongest loyalty lies. Another assumption is that social identity fusion and hence the object of prioritized loyalty is influenced by the present context.

Design/Methodology: The study is based on longitudinal questionnaire data collected among staff of a Swedish military unit, two months prior to an international deployment in Mali (May 2018) and during the mission (September 2018), while the follow-up wave will be collected two months after the end of the mission (December 2018).

Results: The analysis and data collection is ongoing. Preliminary results from an initial pilot test with 160 military officers attending a course at the Swedish Defence University indicates satisfactory measurement properties and that social identity fusion is associated with loyalty towards certain ingroups.

Limitations: The study needs replication with larger samples from various settings before any conclusions regarding the generalizability of the association between identity fusion and loyalty can be drawn.

Implications: This study contributes to a better understanding of the loyalty concept within organizations that operate in extreme contexts.

Originality: This is one of the first studies to investigate how social identity relates to loyalty towards different groups, and whether these associations differ in extreme contexts such as an international military mission.

There is a lack of psychometric scales for measuring the levels and directions of loyalty within a military setting. The aim of the present study was to contribute to a further understanding of the concept of loyalty within the military context. For this reason, a scale measuring loyalty towards five different domains – own values, one’s family, the workgroup, the mission, and the nation – within a military context was developed. A total of 14 items, designed to reflect loyal sacrifice and loyal action, were developed and tested using three independent samples from the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF). The results of exploratory factor analyses suggested a 10-item scale. The 10 items were best accounted for by a four-dimensional model with two loyal sacrificial dimensions (moderate and extreme sacrifice, respectively) and two loyal action dimensions (moderate and extreme action, respectively). The result of confirmatory factor analyses generally supported the four-factor representation. Invariance tests between the two confirmatory samples indicated configural invariance for all domains but one. The current study provides the first thoroughly developed and tested scale for measuring loyalty within a military context. The scale also enables identification of possible loyalty dilemmas that may arise in extreme operational environments.