People who are high in Machiavellianism (high Machs) often come out ahead in dealing with others because they are true pragmatists. That is, they tend to be willing to do or say whatever it takes to win or to get their way. Several questionnaires exist for measuring Machiavellianism as a personality trait. However, tendencies in this direction also can be observed in many face-to-face situations. The following exercise offers one useful means for observing individual differences with respect to Machiavellianism.

Questions for Discussion

1. How did the two-person groups form? Was there a particular person in each group who was largely responsible for the formation of the winning coalition?
2. Why did the third person get left out of the agreement? What did this person say or do—
or fail to say or do—that led to his or her being omitted from the two-person coalition that divided the money?
3. Do you think that actions in this situation are related to Machiavellianism? How?
In other words, what particular things did anyone do that you took as an indicator of being a high Mach?

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Directions 1. Divide the class into groups of three. 2. Hand the three people in each group a sheet with the following instructions: Imagine that I have placed a stack of ten $1 bills on the table in front of you. This money will belong to any two of you who can decide how to divide it. 3. Allow groups up to 10 minutes to reach a decision on this task. 4. Ask each group whether they reached a decision, and what it was. In each group, you probably will find that two people agreed on how to divide the money, leaving the third "out in the cold."