The purpose of the present study was to demonstrate behavioral differences between high Machiavellians (MACHS) as described by Christie (1970a) and those exhibiting the aberrant self-promotion pattern proposed by Gustafson and Ritzer (1995). The aberrant self-promoter (ASP) was defined as having a high degree of narcissism, combined with a low need to appear conventionally "nice" along with pronounced antisocial behavior. The Machiavellian was described as one who is capable of manipulating others to obtain some advantage. The situation that was proposed differentiate the two groups is a legislature game which involves bargaining and forming alliances. ASPs and Machiavellians were identified by the same procedures used by Gustafson and Ritzer (1995). In Condition 1, the issues being voted upon were value laden in the sense that they were designed to elicit an affective response. In Condition 2, the issues were value and affect neutral. The experimental subjects were undergraduates enrolled in psychology courses. It was predicted that because Machiavellians are better at separating affect from rational thought than are either ASPs or non-Mach non-ASPs, Machiavellians would perform better than either of the other groups in the value laden issues condition. It was also predicted that participants would rate aberrant self-promoters less favorably than other players on trust, respect, and likability due to the ASPs ineffectiveness in bargaining and forming alliances. Two repeated measures ANOVAs were performed to test the hypotheses. Results supported only the last prediction regarding likability. Reasons for these findings and implications were discussed / Master of Science

Gaslighting is a phenomenon that has been understudied in management and organizational behavior research. Unlike overt forms of abuse such as abusive supervision and bullying, gaslighting operates through subtle tactics aiming at undermining the victim's perception of reality and self-worth. Understanding the causes and consequences of workplace gaslighting is essential for creating healthier and more productive work environments. This research builds on interdependence theory with insights from affective events theory to address two broad questions: what are the antecedents and consequences of workplace gaslighting. This research contributes to the development of a theoretical model of workplace gaslighting. Findings from the survey-based two-wave study showed support for the positive relationship between supervisor Machiavellianism and workplace gaslighting. Furthermore, this relationship is accentuated when there is relationship conflict between subordinate and supervisor. Results also showed support for the positive relationship between workplace gaslighting and state paranoia. Finally results showed defensive silence as an outcome of workplace gaslighting and this relationship was mediated by state paranoia. However, the results failed to support relational demography as an antecedent of workplace gaslighting or relative power as a moderator. The results also failed to find support for state paranoia as a mediator between workplace gaslighting and ingratiation and task performance, respectively. The manuscript concludes by discussing the theoretical contributions of these findings, and their practical implications for managers.

This study aims to theoretically investigate the concepts of the interpersonal actions 'to motivate' and 'to manipulate' and also to examine possible differences and similarities between the two. The method used is a conceptual review based on the Self-Determination Theory, related to the concept of motivation, and Machiavellianism, related to the concept of manipu-lation. The results show that 'to motivate', according to Self-Determination Theory, concerns influencing the intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, where intrinsic motivation is related to the feeling of self-determination, inner locus of causality, being or feeling competent and exercise activities for the pleasure of it, whilst extrinsic motivation is related to external locus of cau-sality, external pressure and engaging in activities for the purpose of reaching a goal or re-ward. 'To manipulate' is according to Machiavellianism based on the manipulator doing whatever it takes to reach a certain goal and gain something for himself with no regard of what methods being used. The comparative analysis showed that the crucial difference in how an behaviour is interpreted as either, or both, motivating and manipulative is based on who is doing the interpretation, what information she has and which aspects that are focused on.

El maquiavelismo degollado est un défi lancé à tous les hommes de pouvoir tentés de suivre la voie pragmatique de Machiavel plutôt que celle tracée par l’Église catholique romaine ; son auteur, Claude Clément, fut alors considéré comme le plus radical des penseurs de l’anti-machiavélisme. Son œuvre n’a pourtant jamais été rééditée et reste mal connue probablement parce qu’elle est composée de trois textes publiés dans deux langues différentes et que sa version espagnole semble bien être une réécriture plutôt qu’une simple traduction. Parsemée de reproductions de documents, enrichie de nombreuses allusions, de citations parfois cachées, l’œuvre de Claude Clément se veut un recueil de la pensée politique de son temps. À l’aide de bases de données numériques, ce travail se donne pour objectif d’établir le texte du Maquiavelismo degollado dans sa diversité, d’expliquer les grands mécanismes de son évolution et de comprendre sa position dans le réseau des sources qui l’influencent. / El maquiavelismo degollado sounds as a challenge to all statesmen who could be tempted to follow the pragmatic way shown by Machiavelli rather than by the Roman Catholic Church. Then, Claude Clément was considered as a champion of the radical line in the anti-Machiavellian school of thought; however, the book has never been republished and, therefor, is not very well known. El maquiavelismo degollado is not a unique work knowing that three different books have been published, using two different languages and that the Spanish version really seems to be a re-written text rather than a simple translation. Scattered with reproductions of foreign documents, enriched with many allusions, quotations, some of them hidden away, this work seems to be a miscellany of political theories of its time. Using digital databases, this study attempts first to establish the text of El maquiavelismo degollado respecting its complexity, then to explain the main mechanism of its evolution from one version to the other and finally to determine how other works could have influenced it.

The study population consisted of 41 institutions from 9 categories which were military, public or private hospital, public or private school, governmental agency, public-operated service industry, public-operated manufacturing industry, privately operated financial service industry, privately operated service industry, privately operated high tech manufacturing industry and privately operated traditional manufacturing industry. The survey started on December 21st2007 and continued until January 11th 2008.We totally sent out 2,133 questionnaires, returned 1,940 questionnaires, the returns-ratio reached 91.0%, eliminated invalid questionnaires were 50, the effective questionnaires were 1,890,effective questionnaires returns-ratio was 88.6%. Data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, exploring factor analysis and level linear model. The major results of this study are as following: 1.Machiavellianism of organizational members has a significant effect on perceptions of organizational politics. 2.Positive affect of organizational members has a significant effect on perceptions of organizational politics. 3.Negative affect of organizational members has a significant effect on perceptions of organizational politics. 4.The degree of centralization has a significant effect on perceptions of organizational politics. 5.The degree of formalization has no effect on perceptions of organizational politics. 6.Organizational hierarchical Level has no effect on perceptions of organizational politics. 7.Organization size has no effect on perceptions of organizational politics. 8.The degree of centralization has no moderate effect on the relationship between machiavellianism and perceptions of organizational politics. 9.The degree of formalization has no moderate effect on the relationship between machiavellianism and perceptions of organizational politics. 10.Organizational hierarchical Level has no moderate effect on the relationship between machiavellianism and perceptions of organizational politics. 11.Organization size has no moderate effect on the relationship between machiavellianism and perceptions of organizational politics. 12.The degree of centralization has no moderate effect on the relationship between positive affect of organizational members and perceptions of organizational politics. 13.The degree of formalization has no moderate effect on the relationship between negative affect of organizational members and perceptions of organizational politics. 14.Organization size has no moderate effect on the relationship between positive affect of organizational members and perceptions of organizational politics. 15.Organizational hierarchical Level has no moderate effect on the relationship between positive affect of organizational members and perceptions of organizational politics. 16.The degree of centralization has moderate effect on the relationship between positive affect of organizational members and perceptions of organizational politics. 17.The degree of formalization has no moderate effect on the relationship between positive affect of organizational members and perceptions of organizational politics. 18.Organization size has no moderate effect on the relationship between positive affect of organizational members and perceptions of organizational politics. 19.Organizational hierarchical Level has no moderate effect on the relationship between positive affect of organizational members and perceptions of organizational politics.

In this research, a model for ethically questionable decision-making is developed by amalgamating several decision-making theories. The variables of interest are the techniques of neutralization, perceived moral intensity, Machiavellianism, unethical intentions, and ethical judgment. Using a sample of 276 U.S. marketing professionals, partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to validate the model. Findings reveal that U.S. marketing professionals rationalize their ethically questionable intentions through their: (1) perception of moral intensity (i.e., minimizing the harms on others, perceiving their self-interest as most salient, and indifference to social consensus), (2) reliance on various neutralization techniques, and; (3) judgment of their ethically questionable intentions as ethical. After controlling for the Machiavellian personality trait, Machiavellianism did not have a profound effect on the decision-making process, which implies that marketers, in general, are capable of the cognitive distortions found in this study. The main contribution to knowledge is the synthesis of the techniques of neutralization and the perceived moral intensity construct. Through this amalgamation, knowledge of the intermediary steps in the decision-making process has emerged. A contribution to knowledge involves testing the relationship between Machiavellianism and unethical intentions through the mediating variable of the techniques of neutralization. Through this investigation, it was found that the Machiavellian personality is inconsequential to the decision-making process. As a contribution to managerial knowledge, it was found that through cognitive distortions, marketers are capable of various illicit behaviours, which have been shown to be costly to not only stakeholders, but also to the profitability and reputations of organisations.

In this research, a model for ethically questionable decision-making is developed by amalgamating several decision-making theories. The variables of interest are the techniques of neutralization, perceived moral intensity, Machiavellianism, unethical intentions, and ethical judgment. Using a sample of 276 U.S. marketing professionals, partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to validate the model. Findings reveal that U.S. marketing professionals rationalize their ethically questionable intentions through their: (1) perception of moral intensity (i.e., minimizing the harms on others, perceiving their self-interest as most salient, and indifference to social consensus), (2) reliance on various neutralization techniques, and; (3) judgment of their ethically questionable intentions as ethical. After controlling for the Machiavellian personality trait, Machiavellianism did not have a profound effect on the decision-making process, which implies that marketers, in general, are capable of the cognitive distortions found in this study. The main contribution to knowledge is the synthesis of the techniques of neutralization and the perceived moral intensity construct. Through this amalgamation, knowledge of the intermediary steps in the decision-making process has emerged. A contribution to knowledge involves testing the relationship between Machiavellianism and unethical intentions through the mediating variable of the techniques of neutralization. Through this investigation, it was found that the Machiavellian personality is inconsequential to the decision-making process. As a contribution to managerial knowledge, it was found that through cognitive distortions, marketers are capable of various illicit behaviours, which have been shown to be costly to not only stakeholders, but also to the profitability and reputations of organisations.

No description available.

En ledares uppgift är bland annat att motivera och engagera sina medarbetare samt att utveckla ett välfungerande samarbete inom organisationen utifrån verksamhetens mål. Vid rekrytering av chefer eftersöks ofta egenskaper som stämmer överens med personer som har en mörk triad-personlighet (personer med psykopatiska, narcissistiska och/eller machiavellistiska drag). På en ledande position kan en sådan personlighet orsaka stor skada inom organisationen. Chefer med mörk triad-personlighet är svåra att upptäcka vid rekrytering då de ofta är karismatiska och övertygande och de kan relativt enkelt manipulera personlighetstester. Magisteruppsatsen implicerar en forskningsstudie om rekrytering av chefer i offentlig sektor där syftet var att studera ifall det inom offentlig sektor (tjänsteproduktion) i Sverige finns en betydande risk för att rekrytera chefer som faller under den mörka triaden, samt medvetenheten om den eventuella risken. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av en kvalitativ metod i form av nio semi-strukturerade intervjuer samt inslag av observationer och texttolkning. Resultatet visade att det finns en viss risk för att rekrytera chefer med en mörk triad-personlighet, och risken verkar vara både metodologisk och kunskapsmässig. Risken beror dels på att det hos flertalet intervjupersoner fanns en viss avsaknad av riskmedvetenhet när det kommer till rekrytering av chefer som besitter vissa egenskaper, samt att flertalet intervjupersoner har en stor tilltro till icke evidensbaserade tester vilka ledare som faller under den mörka triaden tenderar att ta sig igenom. En av slutsatserna som går att dra är att ju lägre samt äldre utbildning personen har desto mer eftersöks egenskaper som faller under den mörka triaden och desto lägre tenderar riskmedvetenheten att vara. Ytterligare en slutsats som går att dra är att det inom offentlig sektor i Sverige till viss del verkar saknas rekryteringstester som inbegriper emotionell intelligens, något som enligt forskning kan ge ett visst skydd mot att rekrytera chefer med mörk triad-personlighet. Resultatet kan tänkas bidra med kunskap om riskerna för att inom offentlig sektor rekrytera en chef med mörk triad-personlighet så att ytterligare tillvägagångssätt inom rekrytering kan användas för att minimera risken för att rekrytera chefer med denna personlighetstyp. Resultatet kan även ses som en bidragande del till forskningsfältet där detta område i Sverige fortfarande är relativt outforskat, särskilt inom offentlig sektor. / A manager's job is to engage and motivate the employees, and to develop a well-functioning collaboration based on the objectives of the business. When recruiting managers, traits that overlap with people with a dark triad-personality (people with psychopatic, narcissistic and/or Machiavallian traits) are often sought, and having a leader with such a personality can cause organizations great harm. It is difficult to detect managers with a dark triad personality in recruitment as they often are both charismatic and persuasive, and they can easily manipulate a personality test. The master´s thesis involves a study on the recruitment of managers in the public sector. The aim was to study whether there in the public sector in Sweden is a significant risk and awareness of the possible risk of recruiting managers who fall under the dark triad. As a method for the study, a qualitative method was chosen in the form of nine semi-structured interviews, with some elements of observation and text interpretation. The results revealed that there is a certain risk of recruiting managers with a dark triad-personality. This risk seems to be both methodological and knowledge-based, and is partly due to the fact that there was a certain lack of risk awareness among the majority of interviewees when it comes to recruiting managers who possess certain characteristics, and that the majority of interviewees put great faith in non-evidence based tests which managers with a dark triad-personality tend to pass. One of the conclusions of the study was that recruiters with lower and/or an old education tended to seek more after characteristics that are synonymous with the dark triad, and they were also less aware of the risks of doing so. Another conclusion that can be drawn is that in the public sector in Sweden there seems to be a lack of recruitment tests that include emotional intelligence, something that according to research can provide some protection against recruiting managers with a dark triad-personality. The results may contribute with knowledge about the risks of recruiting a manager with dark triad-personality in the public sector, so that additional approaches in recruitment can be used to minimize the risk of recruiting a manager with a dark triad-personality. The result can also be seen as a contributing part to the research field as this area in Sweden still is relatively unexplored.

The research work analyzes the manipulation as a kind of influence and its special characteristics applying to the marital relations. It is clear that the scientific representation of the issue is ambivalent: there are manipulation as a marriage destroying force and as a partnership-building capacity. The work is based on the empirical investigation on the “young” and “mature” couples satisfied by the marriage that show up the manipulative techniques. Due to that were identified the mind games typically used by husbands and wives. / В магистерской диссертации рассматривается манипулирование как вид влияния, его специфика проявления в супружеских отношениях. Показана неоднозначная трактовка данной проблемы в научной литературе: манипулирование как фактор, разрушающий брак, и как фактор, формирующий партнерство. Описано эмпирическое исследование, выявляющее приемы манипулирования, проведенное на выборке «молодых» и «зрелых» семей, удовлетворенных браком. Выявлены приемы манипулирования, характерные для мужчин и женщин, состоящих в брачных отношениях.