Back to results

Eastern Kentucky University

The Exploration of Machiavellianism

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>Dyads, whether in an academic or practical setting, are commonplace. Workforces and academic settings alike are often comprised of groups of two or more individuals working together towards a common goal. As these interactions continue to be prevalent and important in the various settings, the context in which these interactions takes place and the people involved, influence the efficiency of these pairings. More specifically, the realm of business harbors more individuals considered high in a personality trait referred to as Machiavellianism (i.e., Mach) than other common professions. To better understand how Machiavellianism influences commonplace dyads in settings applicable to everyday situations commonly found in a practical and academic setting, a more thorough understanding must be developed regarding the relationship between high and low Machs. </p> <p>This thesis has several objectives. First, previous findings in the literature will try to be replicated regarding the Big Five Personality traits and Emotional Intelligence (EI) as they relate to varying levels of Machiavellianism. Secondly, the impact of high-high, high-low, and low-low Mach pairings have regarding team cohesion, benevolence, trust, integrity, participation, team cohesion, team work preferences is explored. The completion of both objectives will help clarify the role of Machiavellianism in interpersonal relationships in the context of competition in both high and low task interdependency settings. </p> <p>To investigate the research questions regarding the relationship of Machiavellianism in dyadic settings under the context of competition, data were gathered from upper-level undergraduate students from a large regional university in the Midwest United States. Following a discussion of the results, strengths and limitations are explored, both academic and practitioner implications are formulated, and future research directions are proposed. </p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Level thesis:degree_level
Master's
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Management, Marketing, and International Business
Grantor dc:publisher
Eastern Kentucky University
Year
2016

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Penticuff, Logan Taylor

Subjects

dc:subject × 7

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • Copyright 2016 Logan Taylor Penticuff

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/411
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:encompass.eku.edu:etd-1409

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Eastern Kentucky University
Base URL
encompass.eku.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Penticuff, Logan Taylor. The Exploration of Machiavellianism. Master's thesis, Eastern Kentucky University, 2016. https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/411