Machiavellian Personality and Absenteeism

Paper Summary:

This essay looks at the article "The Relationship between Machiavellian-ism and Absence Rate: An Empirical Study", published in the International Journal of Management. The writer notes that this article discusses the relationship between absenteeism rates and the Machiavellian personality orientation, both from a past literature perspective, and in use of study descriptions and results. The writer points out that the author, Abdul Aziz, sought to determine if the Machiavellian personality was positively related to the rate of absenteeism in a general workplace, as well as determine if, instead, this rate of absenteeism was positively related to gender or workplace status. This discussion focuses on Aziz's research project in terms of validity threats, including those of internal, external, and measurement validity threats, control issues, knowledge gained and questions remaining from the study, and the overall effectiveness of the study. Additionally, this discussion pinpoints possible improvements to the research.

From the Paper:

"In this research study, the main goal was to determine if the Machiavellian personality type was positively correlated to absenteeism. Shavelson (2000) notes that, for historical validity, one should ask if anything could have happened during the course of the study that may have affected the dependent variable which, in this case, is the absenteeism rate of the subjects. Since the absenteeism rates were historical in nature, this threat is not applicable. In terms of maturation threats, Shavelson (2000) notes to question whether or not the study is controlled over a period of time, allowing the development of the outcome. Again, since this study was based on a single survey design, this threat is not applicable."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Aziz, A. (2004, Dec.). Relationship between Machiavellianism and absence rate: An empirical study. International Journal of Management, 21(4): 445-447.
• Moss, J. (2005, Winter). Race effects on the employee assessing political leadership: a review of Christie and Geis' (1970) Mach IV measure of Machiavellianism. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 11(2): 24-33.
• Ray, J. (1983). Defective validity of the Machiavellian scale. The Journal of Social Psychology, 119: 291-292.
• Patten, Mildred L. (2002). Understanding research methods: An Overview of the essentials (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Pyrczak Publishing.
• Shavelson, R. J. (2002). Scientific research in education. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

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