Measuring Loyalty: Developing a Scale for a Swedish Military Context

Measuring Loyalty : Developing a Scale for a Swedish Military Context

Engelkes, Torbjörn (author): Stockholms universitet,Arbets- och organisationspsykologi,Försvarshögskolan

Lindholm, Torun, 1962- (author): Stockholms universitet,Personlighets-, social- och utvecklingspsykologi

Sverke, Magnus, 1960- (author): Stockholms universitet,Arbets- och organisationspsykologi

(creator_code:org_t)

Abstract Subject headings

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.

By the author/editor: Engelkes, Torbjö ...; Lindholm, Torun, ...; Sverke, Magnus, ...

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