Nick Simmons & Keaton Montgomery Feb. 2010

History of Mach Mach Defined Characteristics of Mach Mach Instruments Mach IV/V Mach B MPS (new)

Derived from Niccolo Machiavelli’s writings in “The Prince” & “The Discourses” Machiavelli’s common sayings: “The ends justify the means.” Belief that unethical behavior is acceptable sometimes necessary

Began as a concept of political leadership and economic opportunism Most scholars have historically maintained a negative view towards Machiavelli and his work Ex. - Berlin stated, “He is a man inspired by the Devil to lead good men to their doom, the great subverter, the teacher of evil,…the inspirer of St. Bartholomew’s Eve, the original Iago.” However, Machiavelli felt that his beliefs were for the common good

“Characterized by the manipulation and exploitation of others, cunning, cold affect, and a lack of sincerity or ethical concern”. (Christie and Geis, 1970) “Conceptualized as one’s propensity to distrust others, engage in amoral manipulation, seek control over others and seek status for oneself.” (Dahling, Whitaker, and Levy, 2009)

Construct of “Machiavellianism” originally coined by Christie and Geis (1970) Dev. Mach IV based on studies of political and religious extremist groups Specifically how leaders manipulated subordinates to meet their own desires

Ability to handle both structured & unstructured situations (leadership) Little consideration for interpersonal concerns Autocratic leadership style Prone to counterproductive work behaviors (only stay with same job so long as they can manipulate others to gain rewards for their own personal benefit) High theft rates Typically dissatisfied with their job Experience high levels of work-related stress Self-select into management or law positions

Might actually conduct OCBs to further their manipulations within the organization Don’t trust anyone Assume that others have same intentions as themselves Lower performance, satisfaction, or commitment, etc. demonstrated by their subordinates Skilled at managing impressions (ingratiation) Typically have external locus of control Lack of job involvement Highly correlated with subclinical narcissism

Dev. Pool of statements drawn directly from Machiavelli’s writings or considered to “tap the same syndrome” 3 Types of Statements Dev. Dealing with interpersonal tactics Dealing with cynical views of human nature Dealing with abstract morality

Item pool reduced to 20 item Likert-scale Primary measure of Mach in adults Measure of Mach IV

Inconsistent reliability across culturesand demographic groups ( ) Reliability: Men (.73) Women (.39) Construct validity typically means of measuring validity of the instrument – some evidence for divergent validity, none for convergent validity Developed with 3 dimensions, scored as 1 dim. and abstract morality only has 2 questions

Items are double-barreled Ex. “All in all, it is better to be humble and honest than to be important and dishonest.” Major barrier to construct validity Items may evoke defensiveness Ex. “People suffering from incurable diseases should have the choice of being put painlessly to death.”

Concerns with socially desirable responses (Mach IV) Christie and Geis created Mach V 10 item forced-choice Low reliability Not commonly used, not highly regarded

Machiavellian Behavior Scale (Aziz and Meeks (1990) Uses scenarios designed to be behavioral manifestations of Machiavellianism rather than cognitive measurements Reliability between , but limited testing

Their conceptualization of Mach includes dimensions of observed behaviors and internal beliefs/motivations. Based on 4 dimensions: Distrust of others Amoral manipulation Desire for control Desire for status

Distrust of others: “A cynical outlook on the motivations and intentions of others with a concern for the negative implications that those intentions have for the self.” Amoral Manipulation: “A willingness to disregard standards of morality and see value in behaviors that benefit the self at the expense of others.”

Desire for control: “A need to exercise dominance over interpersonal situations to minimize the extent to which others have power. Desire for status: “A desire to accumulate external indicators of success.”

First tested dimension structure with exploratory factor analysis & deleted items with poor factor loading Retained 16 items: 5 amoral manipulation, 5 distrust of others, 3 desire for status, 3 desire for control (α =.82) Convergent Validity with political skill, self- monitoring, and narcissism. Only narcissism supported (explained 26% variance) Discriminant Validity from NAch-E scale and GMA

Confirmed dimension structure with hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis First new Likert scale of Mach since Mach IV/V Validated against a combination of self-report measures, performance tests, and supervisor ratings MPS is unrelated to contextual performance