Trait Machiavellianism and Agentic Career Success: A Multi-Measure, Multi-Criteria, Multi-Source Analysis

The Five-Factor Machiavellianism Inventory (FFMI) was specifically designed to rectify validity concerns with traditional measures of Machiavellianism. In this study with 550 career targets and 1,127 knowledgeable informants at work from a broad range of occupations and organizations we tested whether the FFMI outperforms traditional measures of Machiavellianism in the prediction of agentic career success using a multifaceted range of proximal and distal career outcomes. Apparent sincerity is a social skill that enables individuals to instill trust and confidence while disguising other intentions. We tested whether apparent sincerity partially mediates the relation of the FFMI with career success. We controlled for gender, human capital, and kind of employment. The results show that the FFMI was a better predictor of agentic career success than traditional Machiavellianism scales. Apparent sincerity partially mediated the FFMI-career success relation. Agency directly and indirectly predicted career success. Planfulness indirectly predicted career success. Antagonism neither directly nor indirectly predicted career success. These results support that the FFMI covers with its dimensions the full range of trait Machiavellianism with reference to criterion validity.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly? A Triarchic Perspective on Psychopathy at Work

Does psychopathy have an upside in vocational contexts? Applying the triarchic model of psychopathy, we propose that the dimensions of boldness, disinhibition, and meanness have different relations to workplace outcomes. Focusing on boldness and in line with socioanalytic personality theory, we propose that political skill moderates the relation between boldness and job performance. Using a sample of 477 target-coworker pairings, we found interaction effects of boldness and political skill on contextual and task performance, and the buffering of counterproductive work behavior. Furthermore, political skill moderated the relation between boldness and adaptive performance. Disinhibition and meanness were positively correlated with counterproductive work behaviors, thereby reflecting the dark core of psychopathy. In sum, boldness is a trait linked to career success in the absence of the other traits that make up psychopathy as a whole. Furthermore, we encourage the use of the triarchic model as an overarching framework in vocational contexts.

Machiavellian Leader Effectiveness

Abstract. Research on the effectiveness of Machiavellian leaders has found contradictory results. By linking socioanalytic and trait activation theory to the Machiavellianism and leadership literature, we argue that political skill may explain these findings by moderating the relation between Machiavellianism and leadership effectiveness. Using a multisource design and moderated mediation analyses with 153 leaders, 287 subordinates, and 153 superiors, we show that leaders who are both strongly politically skilled and high on Machiavellianism successfully enact transformational leadership, mediating improved leader effectiveness. However, when leader political skill is low, high Machiavellianism is negatively associated with (subordinate-rated) transformational leadership, resulting in lower leader effectiveness ratings by superiors. We discuss these results in light of current research on Machiavellianism in leadership and work contexts.

It Works Without Words

Abstract. Emotion recognition ability of emotions expressed by other people (ERA-O) can be important for job performance, leadership, bargaining, and career success. Traditional personnel assessment tools of this ability, however, are contaminated by linguistic skills. In a time of global work migration, more and more people speak a language at work that is not their mother tongue. Consequently, we developed and validated the Face-Based Emotion Matching Test (FEMT), a nonlinguistic objective test of ERA-O in gainfully employed adults. We demonstrate the FEMT’s validity with psychological constructs (cognitive and emotional intelligence, Big Five personality traits) and its criterion validity and interethnic fit.

An Other Perspective on Five Factor Machiavellianism

Previous research has found that traditional assessments of Machiavellianism have insufficient construct coverage and strongly overlap with psychopathy. Tackling these issues, Collison et al. developed the Five Factor Machiavellianism Inventory (FFMI), comprising antagonism, agency, and planfulness. Research by Kückelhaus et al. strongly supports the FFMI's construct validity. However, both of these previous studies share the limitation of common source bias. Therefore, in this study, target participants provided the FFMI self-assessments and coworkers assessed targets in terms of social competency, vocational environments, and occupational success. In a sample of 425 target-coworker dyads, we found that the traditional measures of MACH show a high degree of similarity with psychopathy, while the FFMI is discriminant from psychopathy and shows divergence from traditional measures of MACH with reference to coworker ratings of social competencies, vocational environments, and occupational success. Finally, we explored the interactive relations of the FFMI factors as emergent interpersonal syndromes. The number of significant interactions (18%) clearly exceeded a false positive rate of 5%. Implications and limitations are discussed.

Five Factor Machiavellianism: Validation of a New Measure

Numerous scholars have criticized the traditional assessment of Machiavellianism due to insufficient construct coverage, some going so far as to question its distinctness from psychopathy. Tackling these issues, Collison, Vize, Miller, and Lynam developed the Five Factor Machiavellianism Inventory (FFMI), comprising antagonism, agency, and planfulness. We aimed to replicate the MACH-IV psychopathy relations, demonstrate the validity of the FFMI by assessing its relations with the NEO-PI-R and the HEXACO facets, and link the FFMI to a broad range of work-related criteria. We replicated the MACH-IV psychopathy relations and found a very high (rICCS = .91) absolute profile similarity between the FFMI's correlations with the NEO-PI-R in our sample (N = 572) and the correlation profile for the same variables reported by Collison and colleagues. Both the NEO-PI-R and HEXACO-PI-R profiles for the FFMI found in the current study supported its distinctiveness from traditional measures of Machiavellianism, which converged greatly with the correlation profiles for the FFMI-antagonism dimension. A cluster analysis also showed a substantial proportion of Five Factor Machiavellian individuals. In addition, the FFMI displayed positive relations with a broad range of criteria for vocational and work-related success and was clearly distinct from psychopathy.

Political Skill and Manager Performance: Exponential and Asymptotic Relationships Due to Differing Levels of Enterprising Job Demands

Political skill, a social competence that enables individuals to achieve goals due to their understanding of and influence upon others at work, can play an important role in manager performance. We argue that the political skill–manager performance relationship varies as a nonlinear function of differing levels of enterprising job demands (i.e., working with and through people). A large number of occupations have some enterprising features, but, across occupations, management roles typically contain even greater enterprising expectations. However, relatively few studies have examined the enterprising work context (e.g., enterprising demands) of managers. Specifically, under conditions of high enterprising job demands, we argue and find that, as political skill increases, there is an associated exponential increase in enterprising performance, with growth beyond the mean of political skill resulting in outsized performance gains. Whereas, under conditions of low (relative to other managers) enterprising job demands, political skill will have an asymptotic relationship with enterprising job performance, such that the positive relationship becomes weaker as political skill grows, with increases on political skill beyond the mean resulting in minimal performance improvements. Our hypotheses are generally supported, and these findings have important implications for managers, as the performance gains in managerial roles were shown to be a joint function of manager political skill and enterprising job demands.

Conceptualization and Measurement of Argumentativeness: A Decade Later

The factor structure as well as criterion-related validity of Argumentativeness were examined in three independent samples ( N = 811) with correlations including confirmatory factor analysis. Factor scores show that Approach-oriented and Avoidance-oriented Argumentativeness are negatively correlated. In addition, a factor of Evaluation of Argumentative Skills was established for self-ratings and peer-ratings. Scores on Avoidance-oriented Argumentativeness correlate strongly with Compliance and scores on Approach-oriented Argumentativeness correlate low with Assertiveness. Scores of Approach-oriented Argumentativeness correlate with Openness to Experience from the NEO-Five Factor Inventory and scores of Avoidance-oriented Argumentativeness with Neuroticism. Self-evaluations and evaluations by two independent raters in an adult sample were positively correlated.

Argumentativeness and the Facets of the Big Five

Argumentativeness is conceptualized as a personality trait which predisposes an individual to recognize controversial issues and to advocate or refute positions on them. In a multivariate study with 166 male and 120 female students, the relationships between scores on the Argumentativeness scales and the facet and domain scales of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (Form S) were analyzed. At the facet level, scores on Tendency to Approach arguments and Argumentativeness correlated significantly with scores on Assertiveness and Openness to Ideas, and scores on Tendency to Avoid arguments correlated significantly with scores on Self-consciousness and Assertiveness. At the domain level, scores on Openness to Experience correlated significantly with those on Tendency to Approach arguments and with the Argumentativeness scale and scores on Extraversion correlated significantly with Tendency to Avoid arguments and the Argumentativeness scale.

Assessing Convergent and Discriminant Validity of the Influence Behavior Questionnaire

The purpose was to study convergent and discriminant validity of the 1997 Influence Behavior Questionnaire (short version) used to assess lateral attempts at influence. 479 German employees participated in a multitrait-multimethod study with nine trait measures (Rational Persuasion, Inspirational Appeal, Consultation, Ingratiation, Exchange, Personal Appeal, Coalition, Legitimating, Pressure) and two methods (self- and peer-ratings). Data, analyzed with incomplete structural equation models, supported scales' convergent but not discriminant validity of the influence scales.

Inflation von falsch-positiven Befunden in der psychologischen Forschung

Zusammenfassung. In letzter Zeit mehren sich Hinweise darauf, dass gehäuft falsch-positive Befunde in wissenschaftlichen Publikationen berichtet werden und so die Forschungsliteratur ein verzerrtes Bild der Realität widerspiegelt. Das Fachkollegium Psychologie der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft hat dieses Problem aufgegriffen und die möglichen Ursachen von falsch-positiv Befunden diskutiert. Dieser Artikel gibt den Inhalt dieser Diskussion wieder und möchte Antragssteller auffordern, diese Problematik bei Forschungsanträgen stärker zu beachten. Auch appellieren wir an Antragsteller, Gutachter und Herausgeber, den Stellenwert von negativen Befunden sowie von Replikationen bei Forschungsanträgen und wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten einschließlich klinischer Studien stärker zu berücksichtigen.

Refining the Openness-Performance Relationship: Construct Specificity, Contextualization, Social Skill, and the Combination of Trait Self- and Other-Ratings

Scholars have raised concerns that openness to experience has ambiguous relationships with performance. In this study, we examine both openness and one of its more narrow dimensions, learning approach. In addition, the research context was made narrow (i.e., higher education academic performance in science), and social skill was interactively combined with peer- and self-rated personality in the prediction of academic performance (i.e., grades). We found that those high on learning approach, but not openness, 1 year later performed better academically than those lower on learning approach. Furthermore, for those high and average on social skill, increased peer-rated learning approach was associated with higher performance. Finally, the combination of self- and other-ratings of learning approach was a better predictor of academic performance than the combination of self- and other-ratings of openness. The relationship of openness with academic performance benefits from narrowing predictors and criteria, framing the study within a relevant context, accounting for social skill, and combining self- and other trait ratings.

Validierung eines Trainings zum Aufbau eines Netzwerkes zur Berufsfindung

Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt ein sozial-kognitives Trainingsprogramm zum Aufbau von Netzwerken im Rahmen der beruflichen Entwicklung von GymnasiastInnen beim Übergang von der Schule in die Ausbildung bzw. das Studium sowie dessen Evaluation vor. Das Training fokussiert auf den Aufbau neuer, beruflich relevanter Netzwerke und vermittelt die Grundlagen des Netzwerkens sowie deren praktische Umsetzung anhand von Videoanalysen, Rollenspielen und Gruppenarbeit. Eine vierwöchige selbstständige Übungsphase im Feld ergänzt das zweitägige Intensivtraining. Das längsschnittliche Untersuchungsdesign mit einer Vor- und zwei Nacherhebungen (N = 25, N = 19) wurde anhand mehrerer Datenquellen sowie eines internen Referenzstandards ( Cook & Campbell, 1979 ) evaluiert. Insgesamt konnten Verbesserungen des Aufbauens von Netzwerken im Zeitverlauf nachgewiesen werden.

Zum Verhältnis von Erwerbsarbeit, Arbeitswerten und Globalisierung

Gegenstand dieses Überblicksbeitrages ist die Veränderung von erwerbsarbeitsbezogenen Werten durch die Folgen der wirtschaftlichen Globalisierung in westlichen und nicht-westlichen Gesellschaften. Dabei werden zwei zentrale Thesen entwickelt: (1) Die neuen Anforderungen einer zunehmend globalisierten Wirtschaftsumwelt verändern auch nachhaltig die Bedeutung der Arbeit und die Arbeitswerte in westlichen Kulturen. (2) Der verstärkte Kontakt zwischen verschiedenen Kulturen führt zu einem Austausch von erwerbsarbeitsbezogenen Werten und Einstellungen. Der Westen exportiert einen Teil seiner Arbeitswerte in andere Kulturen, importiert im Gegenzug aber auch arbeitsbezogene Problemlösestrategien aus anderen Teilen der Welt und integriert diese in die eigene Arbeitskultur. Schließlich werden die Konsequenzen dieser Entwicklungen für die arbeits- und organisationspsychologische Praxis in Bezug auf Personalauswahl, -entwicklung, Führung und Arbeitsgestaltung kursorisch dargestellt.

How work context and age shape political skill

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to seek to predict increases in political skill, and more specifically networking ability, based on hierarchical position, time involvement, and the moderating effects of job incumbents’ age.

Design/methodology/approach

– These hypotheses were tested in a panel design with hierarchical regression analyses over two years with 150 works councillors from Germany. Self-reported political skill, time involvement, and position were measured at time 1, and political skill was measured again two years later.

Findings

– Works council members increase their political skill when they hold a higher position and have more time involvement. Further, councillors’ age was found to moderate these relationships. That is, older councillors develop political skill (specifically networking ability) at a higher rate than middle aged employees.

Research limitations/implications

– Future research should test the hypotheses in different populations and also include other ratings of political skill.

Practical implications

– It might not always be necessary to have available relevant social skills for a new job already, as these skills can develop over time.

Social implications

– Political skill is a resource at the workplace with the potential to promote fairness, health, and well-being.

Originality/value

– The present findings add a new perspective to interpersonal skill development: certain job demands moderated by age can change a job incumbent's social skills, particularly networking ability, over time and make her or him more capable of doing well. Thus, it is not always necessary to have available relevant social skills for a new job, as these relevant skills can developed within the context of the new job.

Leader Behaviors as Mediators of the Leader Characteristics - Follower Satisfaction Relationship

This study examined two potential mediators through which leaders transmit their position power into an effectiveness outcome. Drawing upon recent work integrating trait, situational, and behavioral theories of leadership effectiveness, we hypothesized and tested a model specifying that the interactive effects of leader position power and leader political skill on follower satisfaction would be mediated by followers’ perceptions of leaders’ initiating structure and consideration behaviors. Specifically, this model indicates that leaders who are both in powerful positions and politically skilled are perceived to initiate more structure and demonstrate more consideration for their followers than their nonpolitically skilled counterparts, which, in turn, positively impacts followers’ satisfaction (i.e., an indication of subjective leadership effectiveness). Utilizing 190 leaders and 476 followers, we found support for the hypothesized model. Contributions to various literatures, strengths, limitations, and practical implications are discussed.

Do networking activities outside of the classroom protect students against being bullied? A field study with students in secondary school settings in Germany

Research has shown that having close relationships with fellow classmates can provide a buffer for students against bullying and the negative outcomes associated with it. But, research has not explicitly examined the potential benefits of social networking behaviors outside of the classroom for those who could be bullied. This study addresses this gap and finds that, although a bullying climate in the classroom increases overall bullying, students high on external networking activities did not experience an increase in the bullying they received when in a classroom with a high bullying climate. However, the same group of students reported the largest degree of received bulling under conditions of a low bullying climate. We discuss the implications of our results and provide directions for future research.

Measure invariance of the Political Skill Inventory (PSI) across five cultures

This research expands the study of political skill, a construct developed in North America, to other cultures. We examine the psychometric properties of the Political Skill Inventory (PSI) and test the measurement equivalence of the scale in a non-American context. Respondents were 1511 employees from China, Germany, Russia, Turkey, and the United States. The cross-cultural generalizability of the construct is established through consistent evidence of multi-group invariance in an increasingly stringent series of analyses of mean and covariance structures. Overall, the study provides systematic evidence that political skill can be treated as a stable construct among diverse cultural groups. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate that translated PSI measures operationalize the construct similarly. With some exceptions, the item loadings and intercepts are invariant for the US and non-US responses, suggesting partial measurement equivalence. After verifying the accuracy of item translation, we conclude that any differences can be explained by variation in the cultural value of uncertainly avoidance and cultural differences on a low-to-high context continuum. Detected dissimilarities are addressed, and some suggestions regarding the correct use across borders of the instrument by managers and researchers are provided.

Intelligenz, Persönlichkeit, Einkommen und Fremdbeurteilungen der Leistung in sozialen Berufen

Soziale Berufe (sensu KldB 92, Vh 86; Statistisches Bundesamt, 1992 , S. 51) bilden ein wesentliches Segment des Arbeitsmarktes in Deutschland. Gleichwohl liegen bisher keine Befunde dazu vor, wie Intelligenz und Persönlichkeitsmerkmale mit Leistungsbeurteilungen und Einkommen in diesem Bereich zusammenhängen. Dies wurde in der vorliegenden Studie bei 142 erwerbstätigen Personen aus sozialen Berufen untersucht. Die Leistung wurde auf den Dimensionen aufgabenbezogene Leistung, Arbeitseinsatz und Sozialverhalten durch Vorgesetzte oder Kollegen beurteilt. Kontrolliert wurden Alter, Geschlecht und Bildung. Die Allgemeine Intelligenz stand in Beziehung zum Einkommen, nicht aber zur aufgabenbezogenen Leistung. Gewissenhaftigkeit stand in Beziehung zur aufgabenbezogenen Leistung und zum Arbeitseinsatz. Das Sozialverhalten sowie der Arbeitseinsatz standen in Beziehung zum Persönlichkeitsmerkmal Verträglichkeit. Diese Befunde liefern Hinweise darauf, dass Persönlichkeitstests bei der Personalauswahl auch in diesem Berufsbereich nutzbringend eingesetzt werden können. Für Intelligenztests konnte dies nicht nachgewiesen werden. Weitere theoretische und praktische Implikationen der Befunde sowie Stärken und Grenzen der Studie werden diskutiert.

Erfassung von Mentoring-Unterstützung

Mentor-Protegé-Beziehungen haben in den vergangenen Jahren nicht nur in der internationalen Forschung, sondern auch in der betrieblichen Praxis in Deutschland große Beachtung gefunden. Für den deutschen Sprachraum liegt allerdings bisher noch kein validiertes Instrument zur Erfassung von Mentoring-Unterstützung am Arbeitsplatz vor. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit wird über die Validierung des international weit verbreiteten Mentor Role Instruments ( Ragins & McFarlin, 1989 , 1990 ) berichtet. Die Studie hatte ein längsschnittliches Design mit drei Erhebungswellen. Befragt wurden Nachwuchskräfte mit wirtschaftlichen Hochschulabschlüssen (N = 338), ihre Mentoren (N = 264) und ihre Kollegen (N = 275). Im Rahmen des Validierungskonzeptes wurde die Binnenstruktur des Mentor Role Instruments, die Veränderung der mentoralen Unterstützung im Laufe der Beziehung und die Konvergenz von Protegé, Mentor und Kollege in Bezug auf das Ausmaß der Unterstützung überprüft. Die Ergebnisse stützen sowohl die differenziertere Elf-Faktoren-Struktur des Erhebungsinstrumentes als auch die zwei Dimension, karrierebezogene vs. psychosoziale Mentoring-Unterstützung, zweiter Ordnung sowie die Konstruktvalidität des Verfahrens. Das Instrument ist daher für den Einsatz in Wissenschaft und Praxis geeignet.

Construct Validation of the Test of Emotional Intelligence (TEMINT)

This research seeks to further validate the Test of Emotional Intelligence (TEMINT), an ability-based measure of emotional reasoning skills that has accrued an impressive record of validating evidence. With a sample of 192 university students, Study 1 showed that TEMINT was associated most closely with the “understanding emotion” branch of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT – Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2002 ). Study 2 was a longitudinal study with 71 employees over 2 years. TEMINT moderated both the getting-ahead motive – income relationship, and the getting-ahead motive – perceived marketability relationship, giving empirical support to the social facilitator role of emotional reasoning skills. Implications and limitations are discussed.