Two-Dimensional Machiavellianism Scale - Short Form

Overview

The Two-Dimensional Machiavellianism Scale - Short Form (TDMS-SF) is a parsimonious 6-item instrument specifically engineered for large-scale political, social, and psychological batteries. Using a dynamic integration of classical test theory and Item Response Theory (IRT) parameters derived from a massive international footprint (n = 4,769), the items were explicitly curated for their exceptional discrimination and capacity to efficiently peak right in the middle of the population latent continuum (theta = 0).

The TDMS-SF successfully bridges the divide between personality metrics and political ideology, demonstrating robust validity profiles in evaluating multi-tiered societal constructs like ethnocentrism, nationalism, and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA).

Items

Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements over the past year using the 7-point response scale.

Views Facet

• Item 1: In my opinion, human nature is to be dishonest. (Original Item 1)
• Item 2: I think that most people will take advantage of others in the right situation. (Original Item 2)
• Item 3: I believe that most people are essentially good. (Original Item 6 — Reverse-scored)

Tactics Facet

• Item 4: I think that it is OK to take advantage of others to achieve an important goal. (Original Item 8)
• Item 5: It is sometimes necessary for me to mislead others to get things done. (Original Item 9)
• Item 6: To me, it is never justified to deceive others. (Original Item 11 — Reverse-scored)

Scoring

• Reverse Code the designated contrait items: Items 3 and 6. The recoded value equals 8 minus the original value.
• Subscale Scores: Calculate the mean or sum of the designated items for each dimension:
  • Views: Mean/Sum of Items 1, 2, and 3.
  • Tactics: Mean/Sum of Items 4, 5, and 6.
• Total Score: Calculate the mean or sum across all 6 items.

Interpretation & Nomological Footprint

Despite its length, the TDMS-SF maintains unique performance distributions across distinct ideological configurations:

• Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA): The dimensions yield contrasting effects—Views correlates strongly positive with RWA (capturing shared cynical threat perceptions of human fallibility), whereas Tactics relates negatively with RWA (capturing a core resistance to institutional constraint and authority submission).
• Ethnocentrism & Nationalism: Both components track small-to-moderate positive paths into intergroup ethnocentrism and competitive national dominance footprints, representing opportunistic group alignment rather than authentic in-group loyalty.

Citation

Monaghan, C., Bizumic, B., & Phillis, N. (2025). Two-Dimensional Machiavellianism: Shortening the Scale and Expanding the Nomological Network to Political Psychology. Journal of Personality Assessment. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2025.2609696