Machiavellianism

(psychology)

In the field of personality psychology, Machiavellianism is a personality trait centered on

manipulativeness, callousness, and indifference to morality.[3][4][5] Though it has nothing to do
with the historical figure or his political thought,[6][7][8] the trait is named after the political
theorist Niccolò Machiavelli, as psychologists Richard Christie and Florence Geis used edited
and truncated statements inspired by his works to study variations in human behaviors.[9][10][11]
Their Mach IV test, a 20-question, Likert-scale personality survey, became the standard self-
assessment tool and scale of the Machiavellianism construct. Those who score high on the
scale (High Machs) are more likely to have a high level of deceitfulness and a cynical,
unempathetic temperament.[12][13]
 Machiavellianism

Machiavellianism is one of the traits in the dark triad model, along with psychopathy and narcissism.

Specialty Personality psychology

Causes Genetic and environmental[1][2]

It is one of the dark triad traits, along with the subclinical versions of narcissism and
psychopathy.[14][15][16]

Core features

In developing the construct studying manipulators, Christie theorized that they would possess
the following characteristics:[17]

1. A relative lack of affect in interpersonal relationships: Manipulators do not empathize with

their victims. The more empathy one has, Christie says, the less likely one will manipulate a
person to do their bidding.

2. A lack of concern for conventional morality: The manipulator is not concerned with the
morality of behaviors such as lying and cheating.

3. A lack of gross psychopathology (mental illness): Manipulators usually have an

instrumentalist view of the world, which shows a lack of psychosis or other such mental
impairments.

4. Low ideological commitment.

Five Factor Model

Under the recently devised Five-Factor Model of Machiavellianism, three characteristics underlie
the construct:[18]

Antagonism: manipulativeness, cynicism, selfishness, callousness, and arrogance.

Planfulness: deliberation and orderliness.

Agency: achievement-striving, assertiveness, self-confidence, emotional invulnerability,

activity and competence.

Origin of the construct

In the 1960s, Richard Christie and Florence L. Geis wanted to study the thought processes and
actions of those who manipulated others, and developed a test using a selection of statements,
including a few truncated and edited sentences from Machiavelli's works as test items, naming
the construct "Machiavellianism" after him.[19][4] They wanted to assess whether or not those
who were in agreement with the statements would behave differently than others who disagreed,
specifically in regards to manipulative actions. Their Mach IV test, a 20-question, Likert-scale
personality survey, became the standard self-assessment tool of the Machiavellianism
construct.[9] Using their scale, Christie and Geis conducted multiple experimental tests that
showed that the interpersonal strategies and behavior of "high Machs" and "low Machs"
differ.[20] People scoring high on the scale (high Machs) tend to endorse manipulative
statements, and behave accordingly, contrary to those who score lowly (low Machs).[21] Their
basic results have been widely replicated.[22] Measured on the Mach IV scale, males score, on
average, slightly higher on Machiavellianism than females.[20][23]

The Mach IV test influenced the creation of assessment scaled like the Dirty Dozen, which
contains 12 items and the Short Dark Triad, composed of 27 items.[24] More recently, in response
to criticisms of Mach-IV, researchers developed the Five-Factor Machiavellianism Inventory
(FFMI), which attempts to include concepts (like being calculated and planful) that are not
adequately captured by Mach-IV.[18]

Genetics and environment

Several behavioral genetics studies on the dark triad have shown that Machiavellianism has both
significantly genetic and environmental influences.[25][26][27] One of the studies noted that while
Machiavellianism is heritable to a substantial degree, it can also influenced by the shared-
environment (i.e sibling groups) slightly more than narcissism and psychopathy.[28] Other traits
associated with machiavellianism are influenced by genetics as well, as one study notes that
"The co-occurrence of alexithymia and Machiavellianism was most heavily influenced by genetic
factors, and to a lesser but significant extent by non-shared environmental factors."[29]
Machiavellianism is also heavily correlated with primary psychopathy which is itself strongly
heritable.[30] A study on the "core" of dark triad traits also emphasized that both of the residuals
of Machiavellianism and psychopathy had "significant genetic components".[31]

Research on children

There has also been extensive research on Machiavellianism in young children and adolescents,
via a measure dubbed the "Kiddie Mach" test.[32][33] Peer reports suggest that children higher in
Machiavellianism exhibit behaviors such as using both prosocial and coercive strategies based
on how much is to be gained in a situation, and they tend to manipulate indirectly.[34] Children
who high on the Machiavellianism scale tend to be more successful in manipulation, do it more
frequently, and judged as better at manipulation than those who score lower.[35] Parental levels
of Machiavellianism seem to have a slight, but not great, effect on the child's own level. This
indicates that children develop Machiavellian traits on their own as time progresses.[36]
Machiavellianism is also correlated with childhood aggression, especially concerning the control
of social hierarchies.[37]

Peer ratings of Machiavellian children are inconsistent, with researchers reporting that
Machiavellian children are both popular,[38] and less well liked by peers.[39][40]

Motivation

A 1992 review described the motivation of those high on the Machiavellianism scale as related
to cold selfishness and pure instrumentality, and those high on the trait were assumed to pursue
their motives (e.g. sex, achievement, sociality) in duplicitous ways. More recent research on the
motivations of high Machs compared to low Machs found that they gave high priority to money,
power, and competition and relatively low priority to community building, self-love, and family
commitment. High Machs admitted to focusing on unmitigated achievement and winning at any
cost.[41][42][43]

The research on behaviors which high Machs engage in suggest that they are willing to achieve
their goals by bending and breaking rules, cheating, and stealing.[44] People high in
Machiavellianism are able to easily switch between working with others to taking advantage of
others to achieve their goals, and they are more willing to do things others see as terrible or
immoral.[45][46]

Mental abilities

Due to their skill at interpersonal manipulation, there has often been an assumption that high
Machs possess superior intelligence, or ability to understand other people in social situations.
Recent research provides some support for this assumption.[47] However, other research has
established that Machiavellianism is unrelated to IQ.[48]

Furthermore, studies on emotional intelligence have found that high Machiavellianism is usually
associated with low emotional intelligence as assessed by both performance and questionnaire
measures.[49] Both emotional empathy and emotion recognition have been shown to have
negative correlations with Machiavellianism.[50][51] Additionally, research has shown that
Machiavellianism is unrelated to a more advanced theory of mind, that is, the ability to anticipate
what others are thinking in social situations.[52] However, some studies have suggested the
contrary viewpoint that high Machiavellianism is associated with excellent theory of mind
skills.[53][54][55][56]

When it comes to manipulation, individuals high in Machiavellianism may, according to

Bereczkei, "have certain cognitive and social skills that enable them to properly adapt to the
challenges of environmental circumstances".[57] They also are incredibly perceptive to the
presence of others, and feign altruism to enhance their reputation.[58]

Dark Triad

In 1998, John McHoskey, William Worzel, and Christopher Szyarto proposed that narcissism,
Machiavellianism, and psychopathy are more or less interchangeable in normal samples.[59][60]
Delroy L. Paulhus and McHoskey debated these perspectives at an American Psychological
Association conference, inspiring a body of research that continues to grow in the published
literature. Delroy Paulhus and Kevin Williams found enough differences between the traits to
suggest that they were distinct despite their similarities, thus the concept of a "triad" of
offensive personality traits was conceptualized.[61] There has been research on
Machiavellianism using various dark triad measures, including the Short Dark Triad (SD3), and
the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen test. [62][63]
Psychopathy

Many psychologists consider Machiavellianism to be essentially indistinguishable from

psychopathy, as they both share manipulative tendencies and cold callousness as their primary
attributes.[64][65][66] According to John McHoskey, the MACH-IV test is merely "a global measure
of psychopathy in noninstitutionalized populations".[67] Both psychopaths and Machiavellians
score low on conscientiousness and agreeableness, and they often are dismissive of social
norms and ethics.[68]

Many other psychologists state that while Machiavellianism and psychopathy overlap heavily,
there is much evidence to suggest that they are distinct personality constructs.[41][69][70]
Psychologists who stress the differences between Machiavellianism and psychopathy state that
psychopaths differ from individuals high in Machiavellianism in that they are impulsive, tend to
be reckless, and they lack long term planning skills.[71][72][73] Delroy Paulhus and others have
stated that this difference between the two traits is often underappreciated.[74]

Narcissism

Individuals high in Machiavellianism and narcissism both manipulate to improve their

reputations, and how they appear to others.[75][76] Individuals high in the two traits do this as a
form of self aggrandizement to help their chances of success in a given situation.[77]
Machiavellianism scores were positively associated with aspects of narcissism such as
entitlement and exploitativeness, and inversely associated with adaptive narcissistic tendencies,
like self-sufficiency.[78] Studies have also shown that Machiavellians are more realistic about
their character, while narcissists are less realistic about theirs.[79] Compared to High Machs,
narcissists are less malevolent and show a more socially positive personality. They also have
higher levels of self- rated happiness.[80]

Relations with other personality traits

Big Five

Mach-IV scores are negatively correlated with agreeableness (r = −0.47) and conscientiousness
(r = −0.34), two dimensions of the "big five" personality model (NEO-PI-R).[72] The FFMI corrects
for this by including aspects of high conscientiousness in the scale (e.g. order, deliberation).[18]
Additionally, Machiavellianism correlates more highly with the honesty-humility dimension of the
six-factor HEXACO model than with any of the big five dimensions.[41] Machiavellianism has also
been located within the interpersonal circumplex, which consists of the two independent
dimensions of agency and communion. Agency refers to the motivation to succeed and to
individuate the self, whereas communion refers to the motivation to merge with others and to
support group interests. Machiavellianism lies in the quadrant of the circumplex defined by high
agency and low communion.[41] Machiavellianism has been found to lie diagonally opposite
from a circumplex construct called self-construal, a tendency to prefer communion over agency.
This suggests that people high in Machiavellianism do not simply wish to achieve, they wish to
do so at the expense of (or at least without regard to) others.[41][81]

Hot and cold empathy

There are two distinct types of empathy which people use to relate to each other which are
referred to as hot and cold empathy. Cold empathy refers to the understanding of how others
might react to one's actions or a certain event. Hot empathy refers to the emotional reaction
others might have to an event. People high in Machiavellianism tend to have a better
understanding of cold empathy and do not feel hot empathy which explains why they seem cold
and uncaring.[45] Some studies have suggested that Machiavellians are deficient only at the level
of affective empathy (sharing of emotions), whereas their cognitive empathy is intact, even
high.[56][82][83][84] Another study suggested that high Machs are defective at both kinds of
empathy.[85] Studies also assert that high Machs don't feel guilt over the consequences of their
manipulations.[86]

Alexithymia

Alexithymia is considered a key trait correlated heavily with Machiavellianism.[87][56][88] It is the

lack of awareness of one's own emotions as well as the emotions of others.[89] When tested,
healthy alexithymic individuals have been found to obtain high Machiavellianism scores.[90][56]
This was not surprising to researchers, seeing as one of the core traits of Machiavellianism is
unemotionality, similar to what alexithymics experience.[91]

In the workplace

Machiavellianism is also studied by organizational psychologists, especially those who study

manipulative behaviors in workplace settings.[92] Workplace behaviors associated with this
concept include flattery, deceit, coercion, and the abuse of others through one's leadership
position.[93][94][95] These behaviors in the workplace are ultimately done to advance personal
interests.[96][97][76]

Research has shown that one's level of Machiavellianism can be a major factor in situations
where workplace manipulation is involved because this trait can have an effect on the ability for
an individual to "fit" into a highly political work environment.[98] Research has found individuals
with Dark Triad traits are drawn to entrepreneurship. Certain qualities found in the Dark Triad are
similar to traits needed for effective entrepreneurship, such as confidence, charisma and risk
taking.[99]

Dimensionality of the MACH scale

Although there have been myriad proposed factor structures, two dimensions emerge most
consistently within factor-analytic research – differentiating Machiavellian views from
behaviors.[100] Although the Mach IV scale is unable to reliably capture the two dimensions, a 10-
item subset of the scale known as the "two-dimensional Mach IV" (TDM-V), reproduces the
views and tactics dimensions across countries, genders, sample types, and scale category
length.[101][102] The "views" dimension appears to capture the neurotic, narcissistic, pessimistic,
and distrustful aspects of Machiavellianism, while the "tactics" component captures the more
unconscientious, self-serving, and deceitful behavioral aspects.

Game theory

In 2002, the Machiavellianism scale of Christie and Geis was applied by behavioral game
theorists Anna Gunnthorsdottir, Kevin McCabe and Vernon L. Smith in their search for
explanations for the spread of observed behavior in experimental games, in particular individual
choices which do not correspond to assumptions of material self-interest captured by the
standard Nash equilibrium prediction.[23] It was found that in a trust game, those with high
Mach-IV scores tended to follow Homo economicus' equilibrium strategies while those with low
Mach-IV scores tended to deviate from the equilibrium, and instead made choices that reflected
widely accepted moral standards and social preferences.

See also

Amorality
 Dark Triad Dirty Dozen

Deception

Light triad

Social dominance orientation

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Further reading
 Christie, R., & Geis, F. L. (2013). Studies in machiavellianism. Academic Press.
Jones, Daniel N., and Delroy L. Paulhus. "Machiavellianism." (2009).
Fehr, B., & Samsom, D. (2013). The construct of machiavellianism: tvventy years later.
Advances in personality assessment, 9, 77.
Paulhus, Delroy L., and Kevin M. Williams. "The dark triad of personality: Narcissism,
Machiavellianism, and psychopathy." Journal of research in personality 36.6 (2002): 556-563.
Furnham, Adrian, Steven C. Richards, and Delroy L. Paulhus. "The Dark Triad of personality: A
10 year review." Social and personality psychology compass 7.3 (2013): 199-216.
Lyons, M. (2019). The dark triad of personality: Narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy
in everyday life. Academic Press.
Bereczkei, Tamás. Machiavellianism: The psychology of manipulation. Routledge, 2017.

External links

Interactive MACH IV test (https://openpsychometrics.org/tests/MACH-IV/) on the Open-

Source Psychometrics Project

Meet the Machiavellians (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/machiavellians-gulling-t

he-rubes/201509/meet-the-machiavellians) article in Psychology Today

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