Machiavellianism and Public Accountants

Abstract

The Machiavellianism construct has been shown to influence an individual\u27s ability to withstand social pressure and an individual\u27s capacity to persuade others. These 2 qualities should be useful to public accountants in their role as shareholder\u27s agent, while working with management on a routine basis. Machiavellianism is examined among public accountants, and it is explored whether Machiavellianism is related to professional status and job satisfaction in public accounting. The results provide evidence that: 1. public accountants are not significantly different from marketing professionals in their level of Machiavellianism, and 2. Machiavellianism is negatively related to job satisfaction among public accountants. However, as measured by position and salary, no relationship is found between Machiavellianism and professional status