Tenants in Machiavellianism: a return to origin

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to verify the formation of the Machiavellianism construct among professionals of merchant industry in the state of Ceará, Brazil. We performed a literature search followed by field research, in 164 shops of Fortaleza. We consulted 400 respondents, using the scale Machiavellianism Personality Scale (MPS), developed by Dahling, Whitaker and Levy (2009). According to the results obtained, it was possible to infer that the general objective of this study was reached when there was the formation of the five factors of Machiavellianism (Amoral, Interpersonal Influence, Status, Individualism and Disbelief in Others) and found that gender is interrelated with the Machiavellianism. This relationship, however, was not found considering religiosity, age and position (for managers and vendors). From the results presented in this study, one can devise strategies to better manage the collaboration of vendors and managers in shops, in order to improve interpersonal relationships of these professionals with its stakeholders and, consequently, optimize sales as are known in behave as these workers.