Week 7 Discussion 1- "Organizational Politics" and Week 7 Discussion 2- "Interpersonal Communication" .

W-46 THE OB SKILLS WORKBOOK ........................................

Source: From R. Christie and F. L. Geis, Studies in Machiavellianism (New York: Academic Press, 1970). By permission.

Scoring and Interpretation This assessment is designed to compute your Machiavellianism (Mach) score. Mach is a personality characteristic that taps people’s power orientation. The high-Mach personal- ity is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance from others, and believes that ends can justify means. To obtain your Mach score, add up the numbers you checked for ques- tions 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10. For the other four questions, reverse the numbers you have checked, so that 5 becomes 1; 4 is 2; and 1 is 5. Then total both sets of numbers to fi nd your score. A random sample of adults found the national average to be 25. Students in business and management typically score higher.

The results of research using the Mach test have found: (1) men are generally more Machiavellian than women; (2) older adults tend to have lower Mach scores than younger adults; (3) there is no signifi cant difference between high Machs and low Machs on measures of intelligence or ability; (4) Machiavellianism is not signifi cantly related to demographic characteristics such as educational level or marital status; and (5) high Machs tend to be in professions that emphasize the control and manipulation of people — for example, managers, lawyers, psychiatrists, and behavioral scientists.

Instructions For each of the following statements, circle the number that most closely resembles your attitude.

A S S E S S M E N T 1 4

Machiavellianism

Disagree Agree Statement A Lot A Little Neutral A Little A Lot

1. The best way to handle people is to tell them what they want to hear. 1 2 3 4 5 2. When you ask someone to do something for you, it is best to give the real reason for wanting it rather than reasons that might carry more weight. 1 2 3 4 5 3. Anyone who completely trusts someone else is asking for trouble. 1 2 3 4 5 4. It is hard to get ahead without cutting corners here and there. 1 2 3 4 5 5. It is safest to assume that all people have a vicious streak, and it will come out when they are given a chance. 1 2 3 4 5 6. One should take action only when it is morally right. 1 2 3 4 5 7. Most people are basically good and kind. 1 2 3 4 5 8. There is no excuse for lying to someone else. 1 2 3 4 5 9. Most people forget more easily the death of their father than the loss of their property. 1 2 3 4 5 10. Generally speaking, people won’t work hard unless forced to do so. 1 2 3 4 5

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