The Impact of Machiavellianism and the Trustfulness of the Victim on Laboratory Theft

Abstract

Eight-four male subjects, participating in a simulated work situation, had the opportunity to make money honestly or to steal from a second subject serving as a supervisor. In half the cases the supervisor doubted the subject's honesty and made frequent inspections of his work in the first half of the experiment. The remainder of the subjects were exposed to a trusting supervisor who regarded the subjects as honest and did not exercise opportunities to inspect. Subject's level of Machiavellianism was also measured. It was predicted that the norm of responsibility would inhibit subjects from stealing from a trusting supervisor who was dependent on them. Past research led us to expect greater theft from the distrustful supervisor. These hypotheses were supported. Also supported were our hypotheses that high Machiavellians, who conform less to conventional norms and exploit situations where the risk of sanctioning is small, would steal more overall than low Machiavellians, particularly from the trusting supervisor. It was concluded that only close forms of supervision would deter high Machiavellians while low Machiavellians would remain honest if left unsupervised in positions of trust.

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