Misplaced Loyalty
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Misplaced loyalty (or mistaken loyalty, misguided loyalty or misplaced trust) is
loyalty Loyalty is a Fixation (psychology), devotion to a country, philosophy, group, or person. Philosophers disagree on what can be an object of loyalty, as some argue that loyalty is strictly interpersonal and only another human being can be the obj ...
placed in other persons or
organisations An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is an entity—such as a company, or corporation or an institution (formal organization), or an association—comprising one or more people and having a part ...
where that loyalty is not acknowledged, is not
respect Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or deferential action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also th ...
ed, is betrayed, or is taken advantage of. It can also mean loyalty to a malignant or misguided cause.
Social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...
provides a partial explanation for the phenomenon in the way that the norm of social reciprocity motivates people to honor their agreements, and shows that people usually maintain an agreed deal even when it changes for the worse.
Humanists Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" has ...
point out that " n inherits the capacity for loyalty, but not the use to which he shall put it ..may unselfishly devote himself to what is petty or vile, as he may to what is generous and noble".


In the family

Part of the conventional therapeutic wisdom is 'that those of us who were unlucky enough to be raised by bad parents also get to be burdened as adults by their demands...we maintain a sense of misguided loyalty'. Under the rubric - 'Misplaced Loyalty: The
Codependency In psychology, codependency is a theory that attempts to explain imbalanced relationships where one person enables another person's self-destructive behavior, such as addiction, poor mental health, immaturity, irresponsibility, or under-ach ...
Factor' - the
self-help Self-help or self-improvement is "a focus on self-guided, in contrast to professionally guided, efforts to cope with life problems" —economically, physically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. When ...
movement would strongly challenge such loyalty: 'in either individual therapy or self-help groups, the goal is to seek out and replace our misguided loyalty and attachment to our failed parents with attachment to healthier peers'. Psychoanalysis would highlight the accompanying paradox that 'the child, it should be remembered, always defends the bad parent more ferociously than the good'. The paradox may help account for what have been called ' trauma bonds...the misplaced loyalties found in exploitive cults, incest families, or hostage and kidnapping situations, or codependents who live with alcoholics, compulsive gamblers or sex addicts'.


Institutional

'Institutions develop powerful instruments of defence for their protection and perpetuation...develop misguided loyalty to committee and boards. To criticize forcibly rather than to cover up is to rock the boat'. Similarly, there are 'examples where misguided loyalty on the part of a business owner or manager has led to a decline in a business's performance'. Sometimes, however, institutions are torn by conflicting codes of loyalty. Thus in the police, in-force loyalty, which 'has sometimes caused officers to lie and cheat on behalf of others...is now regarded as misplaced loyalty': in partial palliation, 'it must be understood that this "looking after one's mates" is a critical element of loyalty for those who face combat'.


In analytic controversy

The charge of misplaced loyalty is often used as a weapon in analytic disputes.
Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, ; ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud", Lacan gave yearly seminars in Paris, from 1953 to 1981, and ...
for example criticised Ernest Kris for the way 'he accredits this interpretation to "
ego psychology Ego psychology is a school of psychoanalysis rooted in Sigmund Freud's structural id-ego-superego model of the mind. An individual interacts with the external world as well as responds to internal forces. Many psychoanalysts use a theoretical c ...
" ''à la'' Hartmann, whom he believed he was under some obligation to support'. Similarly,
Neville Symington Neville Symington (3 July 1937 - 3 December 2019) was a member of the Middle Group of British Psychoanalysts which argues that the primary motivation of the child is object-seeking rather than drive gratification. He published a number of books ...
's 'criticism of
Melanie Klein Melanie Klein (; ; Reizes; 30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-British author and psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst known for her work in child analysis. She was the primary figure in the development of object relations theory. Kl ...
is that...she maintained the concept of the
death instinct In classical psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, the death drive () is the drive toward destruction in the sense of breaking down complex phenomena into their constituent parts or bringing life back to its inanimate 'dead' state, often expressed thr ...
in order to remain loyal to
Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in t ...
's instinct theory, but it only muddles her otherwise clear formulations'.


Historical

* 'The
Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...
ns' behaviour at
Thermopylae Thermopylae (; ; Ancient: , Katharevousa: ; ; "hot gates") is a narrow pass and modern town in Lamia (city), Lamia, Phthiotis, Greece. It derives its name from its Mineral spring, hot sulphur springs."Thermopylae" in: S. Hornblower & A. Spaw ...
' might be seen as misplaced loyalty, or at least as 'an overriding commitment and loyalty to the good and the absolutely overriding dictates of the state' — as an instance when 'unreasoning obedience to a noble but narrow ideal received its logical reward'. * It has been suggested that part of the military problems of the Confederacy came from the way the President,
Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...
, 'had a propensity for meddling with commands and a strong but misplaced confidence in lesser men like...
Braxton Bragg Braxton Bragg (March 22, 1817 – September 27, 1876) was an American army Officer (armed forces), officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War and Confederate General officers in the Confederate States Army, general in th ...
and Beauregard'.


Literary

* "When my love swears that she is made of truth I do believe her, though I know she lies" Shakespeare's ''Sonnet 138''. *
C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...
in his wartime novel ''
That Hideous Strength ''That Hideous Strength: A Modern Fairy-Tale for Grown-Ups'' (also released under the title ''The Tortured Planet'' in an abridged format) is a 1945 novel by C. S. Lewis, the final book in Lewis's theological science fiction Space Trilogy. Th ...
'' had the following exchange: '"There's such a thing as loyalty", said Jane. McPhee...suddenly looked up with a hundred
covenanter Covenanters were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. It originated in disputes with James VI and his son C ...
s in his eyes. "There is, Ma'am", he said. "As you get older you will learn that it is a virtue too important to be lavished on individual personalities"'. * On his last day in the C.I.D.,
John Rebus Detective Inspector John Rebus is the protagonist in the Inspector Rebus series of detective novels by the Scottish writer Sir Ian Rankin, ten of which have so far been televised as ''Rebus''. The novels are mostly set in and around Edinburgh. ...
reflects guiltily that from his ''first'' day in the C.I.D. he had learnt that '"there's only two teams - us and them ... You covered for mates who'd had too many whiskies with lunch...or gone a bit too far on an arrest...prisoners falling downstairs or stumbling into walls...you covered for ''every''body on your team'.Ian Rankin, ''Exit Music'' (London 2007) p. 378


See also


References

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Further reading

* Ashe J Misplaced Loyalty (1997) * Fancher MP Misplaced Loyalty: Why US-born Africans Don't Believe They are Africans Anymore (1999) * Frost G Loyalty misplaced Misdirected virtue and social disintegration (1997) * Frost G Dangerous Attachments: The social costs of misplaced loyalty
Hamlet - Misplaced Loyalty
Discussion on the misplaced loyalty of Hamlet regarding Guildenstern/Rosencrantz, the Monarchy and Claudius. * Long ML Misplaced Loyalty (2009) * Winslow
Misplaced loyalties: The role of military culture in the breakdown of discipline in two peace operations


External links



Ethical principles Interpersonal relationships