“Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.”
Niccolò Machiavelli

A study published in Personality and Individual Differences suggests that an individual who possesses the personality trait of machiavellianism will use their ability to analyze and manipulate social situations to rise through the ranks in organizations by influencing and deceiving their colleagues.

This study was conducted by Dr. Nishant Uppal at the Indian Institute of Management.

Machiavellianism is a personality trait named after the famous 16th century political advisor Niccolò Machiavelli and his philosophy in which the ends justify the means. It is characterized by an individual who is immorally manipulative, actively pursues inner motivations, is emotionally detached and carefully plans ways to execute self-benefitting goals.

When a machiavellianist is in a workplace setting, research has found that they tend to easily navigate through social situations and management hierarchies, and these political abilities are linked to how they use certain cues to determine the appropriate time and target to manage the impressions others have of them in a positive but influenced way.

A machiavellianist may also capitalize on their networking abilities to form useful and influential connections in order to attain higher status within an organization. They tend to come off as charming and attractive and intelligent, allowing them to form trusting relationships with others. 

The purpose of the current study was to examine the roles social astuteness and networking ability play in the relationship between trait-machiavellianism and one’s propensity for impression management in the workplace. 

Dr. Uppal tested this hypothesis by surveying young professionals from multiple organizations. The surveys assessed trait levels of machiavellianism, impression management, networking ability and social astuteness.

To assess machiavellianism, relevant items from the Dirty Dozen Inventory were used (e.g., “I tend to get my way”). Participants’ networking ability and social astuteness were measured using items taken from the Political Skills Inventory (e.g., “I spend a lot of time and effort at work networking with others” and “I understand people very well”). Impression management motivation was measured using the impression management subscale of the Organization Citizenship Behaviour Motives Scale (e.g., “I voluntarily serve many extra functions mainly to impress people around me”).

The results supported the hypothesis that the trait machiavellianism is associated with impression management motives and this relationship was mediated by both social astuteness and networking ability. These findings suggest that social astuteness and networking ability are mechanisms through which a machiavellianist derives their impression management motives.

When a person high in trait-machiavellianism joins an organization, they climb the corporate ladder by leaving lasting impressions with influential people in leadership positions through their abilities to capitalize on social situations and expand their networks.