Relationships between Machiavellianism, task orientation and team effectiveness.

In this study 115 graduate business students most of whom were men employed full time in technical-professional and management fields operated in 32 groups to compete in a management-simulation game. Group task orientation and Machiavellianism were significant predictors of the groups' effectiveness. Machiavellianism, task orientation, and their interaction accounted for 46% of the variance in the teams' effectiveness. Earlier studies found high Machs to be more successful than low Machs in face-to-face situations. This study extends the work on Machiavellianism in that the context offered little opportunity for meaningful face-to-face interaction among compering groups, yet groups scoring high in Machiavellianism made strategic and operating decisions which led to substantially more favorable outcomes.