Loyalty versus Rationality
28 March 2008Why does loyalty exist? What evolutionary significance does it have? I’m not an evolutionary scientist, but I have a few ideas.
First, a definition from dictionary.com:
1. faithful to one’s sovereign, government, or state: a loyal subject.
2. faithful to one’s oath, commitments, or obligations: to be loyal to a vow.
3. faithful to any leader, party, or cause, or to any person or thing conceived as deserving fidelity: a loyal friend.
4. characterized by or showing faithfulness to commitments, vows, allegiance, obligations, etc.: loyal conduct.
Loyalty is found at different levels: with family, friends, governments, and even companies. This emotional attachment is our way of sticking together. Presumably our ancestors who were more loyal were better suited to survive. Interdependence with those around us is a key stepping stone to success.
At it’s basic construct, loyalty is an emotional attachment that unites us.
Loyalty will have us do what is best for the group instead of what is better for us as individuals. We will blindly support the group if necessary, putting our faith in a unified effort. We will feel compelled to come to the rescue of other loyal subjects if they are in need. We will be loyal to those around us by guarding and protecting them from strangers. Loyalty is what causes us to choose sides, particularly when we don’t know which side to be on.
Loyalty and faith will also pull teams through difficult times. When the group faces challenges, loyalty forms an emotional bond that will hold a group together, making us comfortable with the sacrifice of our own needs in favor of the needs of the group. Imagine if your spouse had no loyalty. As soon as you get in a fight over how to load the dishes, the relationship would be over. 
Loyalty is a critical part of civilized society, it unites us, builds strong teams of people that protect each other.
Now like other basic emotions like fear, it can hurt us if not used properly. When can loyalty hurt us? When can it cause us to act incorrectly?
- When it causes us to choose the wrong side. Have you ever defended someone only to find out later they were wrong? Have you ever stood up for a group effort, to find out that it was the wrong group to be in? I’m sure we all have our stories to back this up, I know I do.
- When it causes us to stay in a situation that is not healthy. Loyalty is a very powerful, compelling emotion for some. Abusive relationships, gangs, and hostile working environments are situations that should not be tolerated, but people do. Could it be that loyalty is what causes us to stick around?
- When it impairs the judgement of what we are loyal too. In situations of strong loyalty, we will excuse the actions of what we are loyal to. We may manipulate the facts to make our subject appear in a better light. Loyalty creates a cloud that causes us to not think clearly. We may not be able to see just how bad the situation is — our judgement is compromised.
Here are some specific examples I’ve seen where loyalty overpowers a rational decision:
- Staying with a dying company (company loyalty)
- Living in a small town with no opportunity (family loyalty)
- Unjustified wars (country loyalty aka patriotism)
- Working in a hostile working environment (company loyalty)
- Abusive relationships (spouse loyalty)
Is loyalty clouding your judgement? Is it causing you to evaluate the circumstances around you in an biased manner? Is loyalty compromising your ability to make a rational decision? Something to think about.
