A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Predicting Loyalty: Examining the Role of Social Identity and Leadership in an Extreme Operational Environment-A Swedish Case

  2023. Torbjörn Engelkes, Magnus Sverke, Torun Lindholm. Armed forces and society, 0095327X2211509

  Article

  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.

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• Measuring loyalty

  2019. Torbjörn Engelkes. Abstract Book of the 19th European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology Congress, 2030-2030

  Conference

  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.

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• My social identity right or wrong

  2019. Torbjörn Engelkes. Abstract Book of the 19th European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology Congress, 2028-2028

  Conference

  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.

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