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Machiavellianism.
Abstract
Early in the 16th century, Niccolo Machiavelli acted as chief political advisor to the ruling Medici family in Florence, Italy. The details of his counsel are well known because Machiavelli laid them out for posterity in his 1513 book,
The Prince. The gist of his advice for maintaining political control is captured in the phrase "the end justifies the means." According to Machiavelli, a ruler with a clear agenda should be open to any and all effective tactics, including manipulative interpersonal strategies such as flattery and lying. Richard Christie, noticed that Machiavelli's political strategies had parallels in people's everyday social behavior. Christie and his colleagues at Columbia University identified a corresponding personality syndrome, which they dubbed Machiavellianism. The label was chosen to capture a duplicitous interpersonal style assumed to emerge from a broader network of cynical beliefs and pragmatic morality. Christie applied his psychometric expertise to develop a series of questionnaires designed to tap individual differences in Machiavellianism. Those questionnaires, along with the research supporting their construct validity, were presented in Christie and Geis's (1970) book,
Studies in Machiavellianism. Of these measures, by far the most popular has been the Mach IV. Used in more than 2,000 cited studies, the scale has proved valuable in studying manipulative tendencies among student, community, and worker samples. The follow-up version, Mach V, was designed as an improvement but, in the end, raised more problems than it solved. Our strategy here is to summarize its conclusions and springboard into the subsequent research. Our emphasis is on the Christie tradition primarily focused on research using his scales. We conclude by discussing new directions in theory and research on Machiavellianism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... As a first step in developing a validated dictionary, a word list that focused on capturing dimensions exclusive to Machiavellianism was developed. With a strong focus on influence, core word groups were developed based on the eight facets: manipulation, ingratiation, persuasion, supplication, intimidation, self-disclosure, betrayal, and revenge (Fehr & Samsom, 2013;Jones & Paulhus, 2009;Wilson et al., 1996). When creating new dictionaries, the procedures outlined by Short et al. (2010) were followed. ...
In this study, we explore the impact of Machiavellian rhetoric on fundraising within the increasingly important context of online crowdfunding. The “all-or-nothing” funding model used by the world’s largest crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter, may be an attractive context in which entrepreneurs can utilize Machiavellian rhetoric to reach their funding goal, lest they get no funding at all. This study uses data from 76,847 crowdfunding projects posted on kickstarter.com and develops a dictionary for computer-aided text analysis (CATA) of Machiavellian rhetoric to measure the relationship between the frequency of Machiavellian rhetoric use and crowdfunding performance, operationalized as either reaching a funding goal or the number of backers who funded the project. Machiavellian rhetoric is segregated into eight facets, which are categorized into hard and soft influence tactics. Hard tactics include revenge, intimidation, betrayal, and manipulation. Soft tactics include ingratiation, supplication, self-disclosure, and persuasion. Results reveal that signals of revenge, self-disclosure, and intimidation have negative effects, whereas signals of ingratiation and persuasion have mixed positive effects on crowdfunding performance. Ingratiation is found to increase the number of backers, but not funding success. Conversely, persuasion is found to increase funding success, but not the number of backers. Surprisingly, betrayal rhetoric is positively related to both measures of crowdfunding performance. Thus, this article complements the literature on backer decision-making, entrepreneurial methods, reward-based crowdfunding, and ethics in entrepreneurship by demonstrating how the displays of potentially negative phenomena, such as Machiavellianism, have complex consequences for entrepreneurial outcomes.
This literature review aims to analyze studies published by researchers on the topic of the relationship between the psychological constructs of the Dark Triad and Cognitive Empathy. This study hypothesizes how having good cognitive empathic skills could benefit people who demonstrate Dark Triad traits, as this could facilitate the implementation of manipulative strategies. Through the process of identifying studies via databases and registers, 23 studies were included in this literature review, and the results and theories brought forward by the researchers find more agreement regarding the individual components of the Dark Triad than the whole construct: narcissism seems to have, for the most part, relatively small and typical positive correlations (more than 50% of correlations), Machiavellianism has relatively small and typical negative relationships (about 80% of correlations), and psychopathy has relatively large negative relationships (about 90% of correlations). This study conveys that Machiavellians and psychopaths, having reduced empathic abilities, use manipulation techniques that do not have to do with empathy (for example seduction, intimidation etc.), while narcissists would be, among these three dimensions, those most likely to understand others’ states of mind and thus be able to use this knowledge to their advantage—although there are doubts about the veracity of the statements and answers given by narcissists in the tests administered to them. This literature review could be a valid aid to professionals dealing with people who exhibit Dark Triad traits; understanding how those exhibiting Dark Triad traits manage their empathic abilities, the areas in which the various dimensions show deficits or not, and how they act to implement their manipulative and controlling tactics could aid in the development of more effective helping strategies to be utilized in therapy settings.
The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanisms by which leader humor affects followers’ change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior. Specifically, we examine the mediation effect of team commitment in the leader humor–change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior link and whether it varied by leader Machiavellianism. Using multi-sourced data from the four battalions of the Republic of Korean Army, our findings show that team commitment mediated the positive relationship between leaders’ affiliative humor and followers’ change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior. Furthermore, the mediated relationship was stronger when leader Machiavellianism was lower. On the other hand, we found no support for the negative relationship between leaders’ aggressive humor and followers’ change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the direct and indirect effects of Dark Triad (DT) traits (Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy) on Instagram addiction by considering the mediating roles of motives (social, conformity, enhancement, and coping). Data were obtained from 315 Instagram users in Oman and analyzed using the Partial Least Square (PLS) technique. The results indicated that Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy have a positive and significant effect on Instagram addiction. Conformity, enhancement and coping motives were found to mediate the influence of Narcissism on Instagram addiction. Conformity motive mediated the Machiavellianism–Instagram addiction link and coping motive mediated the Psychopathy–Instagram addiction link. Psychologists, social scientists, tech-oriented individuals, organizations, and policy makers would benefit from this study by unlocking the potentials of measures to prevent Instagram addiction.
The present research examined whether the Dark Tetrad facets—narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and everyday sadism—are predictive of engagement in athletic aggression. In Study 1, participants (N = 603) received a list of 46 sport activities and were asked to assess the level of aggressiveness of the sport activity they participate in most intensively. They also provided self-reports of the Dark Tetrad. As predicted, athletic aggression was positively related to all facets of the Dark Tetrad. Multiple regression analyses showed that psychopathy had the most robust association with the engagement in athletic aggression. Study 2 (N = 208) showed that differences in the endorsement of self-transcendence values (benevolence and universalism) accounted for the relationships between Machiavellianism and psychopathy and athletic aggression. As also predicted, most of the Dark Tetrad scales were positively related to self-enhancing values (achievement and power). However, because self-enhancing values were not related to athletic aggression, they did not account for the relationship between the Dark Tetrad and engagement in athletic aggression. Overall, it appears that people who score relatively high on antagonistic personality traits tend to care little about the well-being of other people and therefore have little hesitation in harming others in their sporting activities.
Aggressive behavior is modulated by many factors, including personality and cognition, as well as endocrine and neural changes. To study the potential effects on the reaction to provocation, which was realized by an ostensible opponent subtracting money from the participant, we administered testosterone (T) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) or a respective placebo (PL). Forty males underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging session while performing a provocation paradigm. We investigated differential hormone effects and the potential influence of Machiavellian traits on punishment choices (monetary subtractions by the participant) in the paradigm. Participants in the T/AVP group subtracted more money when they were not provoked but showed increased activation in the inferior frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule during feedback compared to PL. Higher Machiavellian traits significantly increased punishing behavior independent of provocation only in this group. The pilot study shows that T/AVP affects neural and behavioral responses during a provocation paradigm while personality characteristics, such as Machiavellian trait patterns, specifically interact with hormonal influences (T/AVP) and their effects on behavior.
In the era of speed and technology, mass media has an important role in keeping people informed about events happening all around the world, but also in shaping their opinion. One of the main issues that mass-media focuses on is represented by terrorist propaganda. Nowadays, terrorist attacks have become more frequent, and we argue that, due to their social and emotional intelligence, terrorists have the power to manipulate not only people but also mass media. The purpose of our paper was to assess the way Romanian and foreign online mass-media channels present information about Islamic terrorist groups and the activities developed by them, in order to raise awareness about the matter of propaganda and the role of mass media in promoting it. In order to conduct the research, content analysis was used as a method. A total of 36 news presented online by Romanian and foreign mass-media channels were analyzed. The result of the research revealed that Romanian mass-media channels focus more on using words with aggressive content, and that foreign mass-media channels focus on religious and cultural-geographic content. Therefore, the results of the research revealed that the way mass media presents terrorist attacks can unintentionally contribute to the promotion of terrorist propaganda.
This paper examines the relationship between the disposition effect and personality traits and aims to find an additional explanation of this bias in a willingness to pay for admiration. We conduct a personality assessment, a stock trading game and a sealed‐bid English auction for 84 individual investors. The gathered data correspond with the literature on a descriptive level; however, even though admiration‐seeking behavior is an important part of social interaction, there is no significant willingness to pay for it. Furthermore, we do not see any influence of personality on the disposition effect. Our findings add to the ongoing discussion of personality traits in connection with behavioral biases.
In this article we hypothesize that psychopathic leaders may be attracted to positions of power because in such environments they can fulfill their need for domination and control over other people. Although social dominance is a well-established trait in psychopathy, social dominance as a motivational factor in those high in psychopathy has received surprisingly little attention in literature and research. In this article we propose that social dominance and dominance motivation may be part of the psychological profile of certain psychopathic subtypes, but not of others. Furthermore, the scarce theory and research on psychopathy and dominance motivation is reviewed. Finally, we will additionally analyze research on the different motivations between the larger group of the Dark Triad and propose new insights on the importance of the need for domination for those high in psychopathy in comparison to other fundamental life motivations. Based on these analyses we propose a clarification for the (estimated) high prevalence of psychopathic individuals in leadership positions.
In the past 20 years, the study of dark personality has seen a surge of interest among both academic researchers and practitioners. Although the research to date has documented that dark personality characteristics are important predictors of workplace behaviors and outcomes, there remain considerable challenges in the field in terms of both theorizing and assessment. The current chapter reviews the history of dark personality, competing models of dark traits, evidence of how and when dark personality impacts organizational outcomes and both current and emerging trends in dark personality assessment. We then suggest potential avenues for future theoretical development as well as for measurement and research design.
The purpose of this study was to establish further validity for the Cognitive Flexibility Scale (Martin & Rubin, 1995) and the Communication Flexibility Scale (Martin & Rubin, 1994) by considering their relationships with argumentativeness, verbal aggressiveness, Machiavellianism, and tolerance for disagreement. Participants (N = 276) completed a questionnaire that included the Cognitive Flexibility Scale, the Communication Flexibility Scale, and measures for the other variables. Cognitive flexibility and communication flexibility were positively related to argumentativeness and tolerance for disagreement and negatively related to verbal aggressiveness. Communication flexibility was also negatively correlated to Machiavellianism.
This study examined Machiavellianism, trait perfectionism, and perfectionistic self-presentation in a sample of 483 university students (134 men; 349 women). Socially prescribed perfectionism mediated the association between Machiavellianism and perfectionistic self-presentation for both genders. Thus, the connection between Machiavellianism and perfectionistic self-presentation operated through socially prescribed perfectionism. Overall, Machiavellianism and components of perfectionism appeared to form a theoretically appreciable and an empirically demonstrable personality configuration. Machiavellian perfectionists (a) perceive others as demanding, controlling, punitive, and hostile toward them, (b) promote an image of perfection, capability, and strength to others, and (c) conceal any hint of imperfection, vulnerability , and weakness from others. When Machiavellian individuals perceive perfectionistic demands from significant others, perfectionistic self-presentation is likely to emerge from their chameleon-like repertoire of self-presentational behaviours.
This research evaluated ethical decision-making behavior under two different contingencies. When 87 students were presented the “fact” that 20% of the salesmen permitted kickbacks, their subsequent ethical behavior was lower than when they were informed that 80% of the salesmen provided kickbacks. Persons scoring high on Machiavellianism were also less ethical.
The Mach TV scale and the Job Descriptive Index were administered to 60 managers of specialty stores. Female store managers scored significantly higher on the Mac IV scale, and no significant differences were observed between men and women on the five subscales of the Job Descriptive Index. A significant relation for women was observed between Machiavellianism and satisfaction with opportunities for promotion. This was the only significant finding of 15 regression analyses examining the relations between Machiavellianism and job satisfaction for the entire sample, for men and for women.
We examined self-reported relations between Machiavellianism (Christie & Gels, 1970) and measures related to adjustment, well-being, and ethical orientation. We predicted that Machiavellianism would be inversely associated with adjustment, and positively associated with a nihilistic, relativistic, and nonidealistic ethical orientation. With respect to adjustment and well-being our results indicate that Machiavellianism is inversely associated with scores on measures of sell-esteem, subjective well-being, and hope but positively associated with powerlessness and nihilism. The results bearing on ethical orientation are consistent with outlined predictions.