Christie, R., and Geis, F. L. (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic Press.
Comments: The Mach IV examines how an individual deals with other individuals; specifically it assesses how manipulable an individual is in interpersonal relationships. A “Kiddie Mach” is also available. This is one of the most frequently used instruments to measure interpersonal relationships.
Scale Construction: Originally, 71 items were written based on the works of Machiavelli. These items fell into three categories: the nature of interpersonal tactics (32); views of human nature (28); and abstract or generalized morality (11). Sixty items correlated at the 0.05 level with a total Mach score. The 10 highest items worded in the Machiavellian direction and the 10 highest items worded in the opposite direction were selected for the Mach IV scale.
Sample: The original sample consisted of 1,196 university students in Iowa, New York, and North Carolina.
Reliability: Split-half reliabilities averaged 0.79. Average item-test correlation was 0.38.
Validity: Concurrent validation studies have been conducted using correlations between the Mach IV and the Mach V scales. Information is included about predictive validation studies.
Factor Analysis: Factor analysis yielded three factors: seven items on duplicity (2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 15); seven items on negativism (1, 5, 8, 12, 13, 18, and 20); and four items on distrust of people (4, 11, 14, and 16).
References
Griesemer, S. R. (2008). The relationship between Machiavellianism, social goals, and social aggression. PhD dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin.
Richford, M. L., and Fortune, J. C. (1984). The secondary principal’s job satisfaction in relation to two personality constructs. Edu- cation 105:17–20.
Shea, M. T., and Beatty, J. R. (1983). Measuring Machiavellianism with Mach V: A psychometric investigation. Journal of Personality Assessment 47:509–13.
Machiavellianism Scales (Mach Scales)
1. Never tell anyone the real reason you did something unless it is useful to do so.
2. The best way to handle people is to tell them what they want to hear.
3. One should take action only when sure it is morally right.
4. Most people are basically good and kind.
5. It is safest to assume that all people have a vicious streak and it will come out when they are given a chance.
6. Honesty is the best policy in all cases.
7. There is no excuse for lying to someone else.
8. Generally speaking, men won’t work hard unless they’re forced to do so.
9. All in all, it is better to be humble and honest than to be important and dishonest.
10. When you ask someone to do something for you, it is best to give the real reasons for wanting it rather than giving reasons which carry more weight.
11. Most people who get ahead in the world lead clean, moral lives.
12. Anyone who completely trusts anyone else is asking for trouble.
13. The biggest difference between most criminals and other people is that the criminals are stupid enough to get caught.
14. Most men are brave.
15. It is wise to flatter important people.
16. It is possible to be good in all respects.
17. Barnum was wrong when he said that there’s a sucker born every minute.
18. It is hard to get ahead without cutting corners here and there.
19. People suffering from incurable diseases should have the choice of being put painlessly to death.
20. Most men forget more easily the death of their father than the loss of their property.
Scoring: Agree Strongly = 3; Agree Somewhat = 2; Agree Slightly = 1; Disagree Slightly = –1; Disagree Somewhat = –2; and Disagree Strongly = –3. Scoring is reversed for the following items: 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 16, and 17. For scoring purposes, Agree Strongly receives a score of 7; No Response receives a score of 4; and Disagree Strongly receives a score of 1. For reversed items, the scoring is reversed. Since a constant of 20 is added to all scores, scores range from a low of 40 to a high of 160 with 100 being a neutral score.