Machiavellianism, self-monitoring, and negative affectivity as predictors of organizational politics perceptions:a field study of workers in Hawaii.

Abstract

Ferris, Russ, and Fandt's (1989) model of organizational politics perceptions presents predictors, outcomes, and moderators. Although most parts of this model have been tested and verified, there are parts that have yet to be substantiated. In this field study, three specific personality variables were tested: Machiavellianism, self-monitoring, and negative affectivity. Machiavelliansism and self -monitoring are two traits that were originally proposed by the Ferris et al. (1989) model to predict perceptions of organizational politics; however, empirical research has yet to verify these relationships. Although negative affectivity was not proposed as a predictor in the Ferris et al. (1989) model, its characteristics warranted further investigation. It was hypothesized that those individuals who are high in Machiavellianism and negative affectivity would perceive more organizational politics than those who are low in them. However, self-monitoring was hypothesized to not show any differences between high versus low groups on perceptions of organizational politics. Participants were categorized into high and low groups based on a median split. The data were collected in Honolulu, HI from five different organizations. Seventy-nine participants completed a demographic questionnaire, a perceptions of organizational politics scale, a Machiavellianism scale (MACH IV), a self-monitoring scale, and a subscale (i.e., negative affect schedule) of the positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) scales. A t-test for independent samples was the statistical technique used to determine whether the high trait participants scored significantly higher than the low trait participants on perceptions of organizational politics. Machiavelliansim (Machs) was the only trait found to predict organizational politics. Specifically, high Machs perceived significantly higher levels of organizational politics perceptions compared to low Machs. No significant differences were found between the high versus the low groups of self-monitoring and negative affectivity on perceptions of organizational politics.