Is it better to be faithful or loyal? Can these two positions of the human soul be placed as alternatives or are they necessarily united? Can you be faithful and loyal or disloyal and unfaithful? This differentiation is essential to allow each person to live their subjectivity without obstacles and their relationships based on their deep aspirations. With this Psychology-Online article we will see the meaning of loyalty and the definition of fidelity with examples to discover what is the difference between loyalty and fidelity.
What is loyalty?
According to the dictionary of the Spanish language, the loyalty definition is the next:
- Compliance with what the laws of fidelity require and those of honor and good manhood.
- Love and fidelity that some animals, such as dogs and horses, show to their owner.
- Legality, truth, reality.
The word loyalty derives from the Latin legalitas which indicates a component of character, by which a person chooses obey particular values of correction and support even in difficult situations, keeping initial promises and acting according to a pre-established code, whether tacit or explicit. In other words, loyalty can be understood as the degree of consistency between behavior in practice and ideals to which a person theoretically adheres; a human moral quality that presupposes the overcoming of an internal conflict by choice.
Loyalty therefore indicates a behavior that inspires a person to choose to “obey” and observe values of correctness and sincerity even in difficult situations, maintaining the commitments made. Loyalty also refers to the relationships between members of a social group; It expresses the imaginary conviction that, to be part of the clan, perfect and obligatory obedience to a pact is necessary. Loyalty can be considered a vassalage at the service of the strongest authority; structures, fixes, hardens, reduces both the being, whose subjectivity is stifled, and its potential relationships.
In him loyalty is a ethical behavior provoked by the Super-ego, in turn introition of parental figures; It is an element of personality, therefore, very deep-rooted and ancient, which submerges in the unconscious and has its origins in early education, understood in a broad sense.
What is fidelity?
According to the dictionary of the Spanish language, the definition of fidelity is the following:
- Loyalty, observance of the faith that someone owes to another person.
- Punctuality, accuracy in the execution of something.
Fidelity (fidelitas, in Latin) is a virtue, a moral commitment, with which a person or a group of people are linked so that a link or obligation towards another person or group of people is valid and mutual. It seems to be linked to trust, but not only, it is also an ethical dimension related to loyalty and fundamental decisions. It is not easy to observe, since the human structure is complex and contradictory.
Fidelity refers to a completely different dimension, that of encounter, delicacy and love. Fidelity is a reality: the reality of a commitment acquired with conscience and truth, first of all towards themselves, then towards the other and above all towards the deep bond of a freely chosen alliance. Fidelity to the alliance with the other, which is above all fidelity to his deep being and his desire, is a process, a fluid and flexible movement. It favors the duration, globality and memory of the relationship, beyond moments of misunderstanding.
In this article you will find.
Differences between loyalty and fidelity
Are loyalty and fidelity synonymous? As we have just seen, if we look up the definitions in the dictionary we discover that loyalty and fidelity are given as mutual meanings. This can create confusion, as we can find both in many different contexts where one term is preferred over the other. Let’s see below some examples of different meaning in various contexts:
- For example, the difference between loyalty and fidelity in a couple. In a couple that loves each other loyalty is: common vision of the world, capacity for understand and respect each other, reciprocal freedom in the renewal of that eternal pact of love that unites a life or, at least, walking together for an important part of the path. It means accepting differences, enduring a little in the name of a higher good, a common project. The fidelity It implies, on the contrary, a mutual power relationship: we are together, you owe me something. Don’t want anyone else, you are mine, we are ours forever, we do not renew any deal, because we swore it at the beginning and it will be so until death do us part. We are loyal because we are free not to betray, we are faithful because, on the other hand, it is forbidden or shameful to betray.
- In fidelity is the concept of faith, in loyalty is the concept of law, the divine and the human, the indisputable transcendent or the continually rewritten immanent. In loyalty there is no calculation, in fidelity there is sometimes calculation and convenience. Fidelity has, in fact, fewer implications of a moral nature than loyalty, which perhaps also involves participation and sharing the concepts or ideals for which one decides to be loyal until the end, because they are shared strongly and emotionally. the principles to which we want to remain loyal in success and in difficulties.
- Any leader likes to surround himself with loyal people rather than faithful people, because while the former, although they may disagree about choices or opinions, They recognize the role and act anyway for previously shared tasks, seconds express a temporal value, dedicated to the moment and the occasion. Just think of the many political “dolphins”, who at the first opportunity abandon the lazy person on duty to create their own party.
Because they have similarities and differences, loyalty and fidelity are considered partial synonyms.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
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- Manzoni, D. (2017). #LOYALTÀ#O#FEDELTÀ#. Retrieved from: https://linguaggiointeriore.wordpress.com/2017/11/25/25ottobre2017lealtao-fedelta/
- Pilutti, R. (2016). Loyalty and/or fedeltà? Retrieved from: http://www.renatopilutti.it/2016/05/26/lealta-eo-fedelta/
- Tomasella, S. (2014). L’amore is not mai per case. Milan: Urra.