Exploring the Predictive Role of Power Distance, Organizational Injustice and Office Abuse on Machiavellianism of Civil Servants in Anambra State

Abstract

The study critically examined power distance, organizational injustice and office abuse as predictors of Machiavellianism among 248 civil servants in Anambra state, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was adopted in selecting the participants. The age of the participants ranged from 23-60 years with mean age of 42.6 and standard deviation of 4.20. Their gender comprised of 82 males (33.6%) and 166 females (66.4%). Four sets of research instruments were used for data collection-power distance scale, organizational justice scale, CWB checklist and Machiavellian trait scale. Correlational design and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze data. All statistics were managed using SPSS version 23. Four hypotheses were tested in the study. The first hypothesis which stated that power distance will significantly predict Machiavellianism among civil servants in Anambra state was accepted at B=.50, p<.05. Also, the second hypothesis which stated that organizational injustice will significantly predict Machiavellianism among civil servants in Anambra state was also accepted at B=.20, p<.05. Again, the third hypothesis which stated that office abuse will significantly predict Machiavellianism among civil servants in Anambra state was also accepted at B=.46, p<.05. Consequently, the fourth hypothesis which is the joint predictive influence of power distance, organizational injustice and office abuse on Machiavellianism of civil servants in Anambra state were also accepted at B=.39, p<.05. Based on the findings of the study, important recommendations that could aid in reducing Machiavellian tendencies at the workplace were made.