High, middle and low Machiavellian undergraduates (ns = 26) evaluated paragraphs describing cognitively balanced and unbalanced situations. All subjects preferred balanced over unbalanced situations. High Machs were more reserved in their positive evaluation of balanced situations and in their negative evaluation of unbalanced situations than Middle Machs, who in turn were more reserved than the low Machs. The findings are in accordance with the personality syndrome attributed to High Machs by Christie and Geis.
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[Cited in ChristieR.GeisF., Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic Press, 1970. Pp. 51–52]
