Recasting Loyalty Dilemmas: Theoretical and Empirical Insights from Social Contexts

Abstract

Loyalty is highly valued in organizations and business relations, and recent research has shown how loyalty can benefit both organizations and individuals. But there is a “dark side” to loyalty that has begun receiving attention, demonstrating that loyalty can lead to unethical behavior. The present symposium seeks to understand how people navigate loyalty dilemmas, and in so doing moves beyond the typical two-character model of loyalty in organizations: the organization and the loyal or disloyal individual. We will consider how network ties and organizational affiliations shape an actor’s decision to be loyal or disloyal. Specifically, this research investigates how the strength of an employee’s organizational affiliation shapes disloyal behavior, how loyalty can be called upon by colleagues and leaders to take the side of bad actors or do something unethical, and demonstrate the surprising benefits to disloyal behavior. Together, these presentations recast our understanding of the relationship between employee loyalty and organizational performance. Gaming the System: An Investigation of Worker Expertise and Unethical Behavior Presenter: Samuel Skowronek; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Maurice Schweitzer; U. of Pennsylvania Loyalty for Whom: Evaluating Transitive Effects of Loyal Obligations in Morally Sticky Situations Presenter: Zachariah Berry; Cornell U. Loyalty to Authority: Examining the Effectiveness and Consequences of Leaders’ Loyalty Calls Presenter: John Angus Hildreth; Cornell SC Johnson College of Business The Upstanding Snitch: Lay Intuitions When loyalty and Morality Conflict Presenter: Zachariah Berry; Cornell U. Presenter: Ike Silver; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Alex Shaw; U. Of Chicago