Description

The Kiddie Machiavellianism Test (KMT-20) is a specialized psychometric instrument designed to assess Machiavellian personality traits in children and adolescents. The questionnaire is based on the theoretical construct of Machiavellianism, a personality dimension characterized by manipulative interpersonal behavior, strategic thinking, emotional detachment, self-interest, and a willingness to exploit others to achieve personal goals.

The KMT-20 is a child-adapted version of the classic Machiavellianism scales originally developed by Christie and Geis, and it evaluates the extent to which children display attitudes and behaviors such as egocentrism, manipulation, deception, interpersonal distrust, reduced empathy, and prioritization of personal gain over cooperation and fairness.

The questionnaire consists of 20 statements, which participants rate using a Likert-type response scale reflecting their degree of agreement or disagreement. The responses provide a comprehensive assessment of Machiavellian tendencies and interpersonal strategies adopted by children during social interactions.

The KMT-20 is widely used in developmental psychology, educational psychology, clinical psychology, child and adolescent psychiatry, personality research, and studies investigating social competence, aggressive behavior, school bullying, moral development, prosocial behavior, and interpersonal functioning throughout childhood and adolescence.

Data Analysis and Applications

Data collected using the KMT-20 are analyzed using contemporary psychometric and statistical techniques to evaluate the degree of Machiavellian traits and examine their relationships with psychological, behavioral, and social variables.

Participants respond to 20 items using a five-point Likert response scale, ranging from strong disagreement to strong agreement. Individual responses are combined to produce an overall Machiavellianism score, while research applications may additionally examine dimensions such as manipulative behavior, deception, interpersonal distrust, lack of empathy, and self-serving attitudes.

Psychometric evaluation typically includes:

  • Internal consistency, assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.
  • Test–retest reliability, evaluating score stability over time.
  • Construct validity, investigated using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).
  • Convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity, established through comparisons with validated measures of personality, empathy, emotional intelligence, aggression, antisocial behavior, and social functioning.

In research settings, KMT-20 scores are commonly analyzed using:

  • Descriptive statistics, including means, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages.
  • Comparative analyses, such as independent-samples t-tests, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Mann–Whitney U tests, and Kruskal–Wallis tests, to compare Machiavellian traits across demographic and clinical groups.
  • Correlation analyses, using Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients to investigate associations between Machiavellianism and empathy, aggression, emotional intelligence, bullying, and psychosocial adjustment.
  • Multivariate statistical techniques, including linear regression, logistic regression, mediation and moderation analyses, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to identify predictors and consequences of Machiavellian traits during childhood and adolescence.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Kiddie Machiavellianism Test (KMT-20) is to provide a reliable assessment of Machiavellian personality characteristics in children and adolescents, contributing to a better understanding of their interpersonal attitudes and social behaviors.

More specifically, the instrument is designed to:

  • identify manipulative and exploitative interpersonal tendencies;
  • assess egocentric and self-serving behavioral patterns;
  • evaluate levels of empathy and interpersonal trust;
  • investigate relationships between Machiavellianism, aggression, bullying, and antisocial behavior;
  • support the development of psychological, educational, and preventive intervention programs;
  • facilitate research on personality development and social functioning during childhood and adolescence.

Scoring

The KMT-20 consists of 20 statements, each rated using a five-point Likert response scale:

  • 1 = Strongly Disagree
  • 2 = Disagree
  • 3 = Neither Agree nor Disagree
  • 4 = Agree
  • 5 = Strongly Agree

The total score is calculated by summing individual item responses after reverse scoring negatively worded items where appropriate, according to the official scoring guidelines.

  • Higher scores indicate stronger Machiavellian tendencies, including increased manipulative behavior, greater interpersonal exploitation, lower empathy, and stronger self-serving attitudes.
  • Lower scores reflect greater interpersonal trust, higher empathy, more cooperative behavior, and healthier social relationships.

Comprehensive psychometric evaluation of the KMT-20 typically includes analyses of internal consistency, construct validity, criterion validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and test–retest reliability, supporting its application in educational, clinical, and research settings.

References

Corral, S., & Calvete, E. (2000). Machiavellianism: Dimensionality of the Mach IV and Its Relation to Self-Monitoring in a Spanish Sample. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 3(1), 3–13.

Christie, R., & Geis, F. (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism. Academic Press.

Christie, R., et al. (1968). Unpublished manuscript. Department of Social Psychology, Columbia University.

Robinson, J. P., & Shaver, P. R. (1969). Measures of Political Attitudes. Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.