MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATIONS


When loyalty binds: Examining the effectiveness of group versus personal loyalty calls on followers’ compliance with


JOHN ANGUS D. HILDRETH ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR


Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management


Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Cornell University


leaders’ unethical requests Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 181, March 2024


LINK TO PAPER


Author • John Angus D. Hildreth


Associate Professor, Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University


Summary Te rise of authoritarianism, nationalism, and tribalism have prompted


renewed interest in the effectiveness of loyalty as a leadership strategy and in the consequences of loyalty calls that conflict with other ethical duties. Te storming of the US Capitol building has brought into sharp relief the need to understand the consequences of loyalty to a President and his dictates. Hildreth focuses on followers’ compliance with leaders’ unethical requests: whether and when they behave unethically if so directed by their leader. He argues that when loyalty calls appeal to group loyalty over personal loyalty, they are obeyed more often.


Six studies measured the unethical compliance of workers interacting online, students working together in a classroom, and fraternity members collaborat- ing in their houses. Findings revealed that the effectiveness of leaders’ loyalty calls depended critically on the target of loyalty: in eliciting compliance with leaders’ unethical requests, calling on group loyalty to the leader was generally more effective than calling on personal loyalty. Tese followers also felt better about their deceit because the calls helped them to rationalize their unethical behavior. Tus, calling on group loyalty not only increases followers’ unethical behavior but also helps them feel righteous about their deceit.


CONTENTS TO MAIN


| RESEARCH WITH IMPACT: CORNELL SC JOHNSON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS • 2024 EDITION


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