Locus of Control and Machiavellianism: A Study on College Undergraduates

In recent decades, the relationship between Machiavellianism and Locus of Control has received increasing attention in psychological research. Machiavellianism, which is one of the key traits of the dark triad, offers a keen interest in the study of self-identity traits of a person. The objective of the present study is to examine the Locus of Control and the Machiavellianism trait among 100 undergraduate students (18-21 yrs). Subjects consisted of 50 male and 50 female students of HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar (Uttarakhand). Locus of Control was assessed using Rotter’s Locus of Control Scale (Dr. N. Hasain & Dr. D. D. Joshi, 1992), and Machiavellianism was assessed using A Scale of Machiavellianism (Mach IV) by Dr. S. N. Rai & Dr. Manjula Gupta. Pearsonian correlation analysis of the variables (Locus of Control and Machiavellianism) on subjects’ scores revealed a negative correlation. No significant difference was found across the genders. Mean scores indicated the male students to be slightly higher on the Machiavellianism trait, and female students showed a higher mean score on Locus of Control indicating an internal Locus of Control.