Prevailing to the peers' detriment: Organizational constraints motivate Machiavellians to undermine their peers

Since Christie and Geis's (1970) seminal work suggested that Machiavellians win more and are persuaded less, researchers have debated the merits and faults of Machiavellianism. Recent findings suggest competition over resources lead Machiavellians to secure their superior's approval, promoting their career advancement. However, the strategies Machiavellians use in such contexts have yet to be identified. Social undermining research suggests that undermining one's coworkers might make it difficult for targets of undermining to maintain effective working relationships while promoting a perpetrator's relative status (Duffy, Shaw, Scott, & Tepper, 2006). Thus, drawing on trait activation theory, we argue that resource constraints motivate Machiavellians to undermine their coworkers, which might help them achieve higher relative status. Additionally, with increased effort devoted toward undermining one's peers, Machiavellians should be distracted from performing core duties resulting in increased production deviance. Data collected from 170 employees supported our arguments. Our study addresses a gap in the literature by suggesting that Machiavellians successfully navigate competitive work environments by undermining their coworkers. We conclude with theoretical and practical implications for both understanding and mitigating the extended detrimental influence of workplace Machiavellianism.