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.