Colour metaphors method as the means of diagnosing officer’s loyalty

Loyalty is the system of an officer’s psycho-behavioural integration into a group or groups operating in a professional sphere. The main diagnosed parameters of officer’s loyalty are the listed groups where an officer is integrated into and the degree of the integration. The elements of loyalty are its structural components (psychological and behavioural facets) and the dynamic operational component. The most proved approach to diagnosing loyalty as an integrative phenomenon, and officer’s loyalty, in particular, is the study of personal traits which are meaningful for the whole group. I.S. Solomin’s method of colour metaphors is an effective means of diagnosing officer’s loyalty. Modification of the method aiming to diagnose officer’s loyalty was successfully tested with a group of penitentiary officers. The main criterion for estimating loyalty to a certain group when interpreting data of colour metaphors method is a relative preference given by the respondent to the colour he marks the estimated group with. The means of revealing psychological causes and conditions of formation of loyalty to a group implies analysis of the concepts marked by the same colour as the estimated group. On average with the increase of service length and official status of the respondents their relevant loyalties to the groups involved in the professional service sphere are more intensively expressed.