Honor, Loyalty, and Sacrifice

Abstract

Three studies were conducted to investigate the potential relationship between honor ideology and loyalty to close others. Study 1 demonstrated strong correlational relationship between honor and concerns of morality pertaining to group harmony, specifically loyalty. Study 2 indicated that greater honor endorsement not only leads to greater indignation toward disloyalty, but also greater satisfaction when a disloyal individual is punished. Lastly, Study 3 used a behavioral outcome measure to test the link between helping behavior and honor endorsement. Results suggested a negative relationship between honor and helping behavior, but accounting for “closeness” between participants and the friend they were being asked to help actually reversed the initial finding, and it resulted in significantly greater willingness to sacrifice. Taken together, the present findings suggest the existence of an under-investigated characteristic of honor culture: to help those to whom we feel loyal.