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Military Loyalty as a Moral Emotion.
- Source :
-
Armed Forces & Society (0095327X) . Jul2021, Vol. 47 Issue 3, p530-550. 21p. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Loyalty between soldiers is idealized as an emotion that promotes cohesion and combat effectiveness. However, little empirical work has examined how military personnel understand, feel, and enact loyalty. We use a symbolic interactionalist informed frame to explore the lived experience of 24 retired Australian Defence Force members via in-depth semi-structured interviews. Our analysis revealed three core themes: (1) Loyalty as reciprocity, where there was an expectation that loyalty would be returned no matter what. (2) The importance of emotional connection for cohesion. (3) Loyalty as a prioritizing process, where a soldier's loyalties gave them a way of choosing between competing demands. Loyalty is a moral emotion that enabled sensemaking. Close interpersonal loyalties tended to trump wider/diffused loyalties. Respondents understood their loyalties to fellow soldiers within wider social constructs of mateship and professionalism. The findings show the risks that come from a reliance on loyalty for combat cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *LOYALTY
*MILITARY personnel
*SEMI-structured interviews
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0095327X
- Volume :
- 47
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Armed Forces & Society (0095327X)
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 150387919
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0095327X19880248