This paper aims to analyze how factors that contribute for loyalty relations in a cooperative are felt by managers and associates. Oliver (1999) was used as theoretical reference, and a questionnaire was applied to 12 managers and 25 associates. The study showed that disloyalty and opportunism are present both in managers and associates, considering that loyalty is linked to keep status quo of each one, relegating cooperativist values, such as equality, collectivity and solidarity. This is not a result atlributed exclusively to associates 'behavior, but also a consequence of demande that the institutional environment cause in cooperative organizations, which is unable to answer adequately to these context.
cooperative; loyalty; associate; opportunism; institutional economy
