People with Machiavellian personality tend to be highly intelligent. Consequently, they usually have very ambitious goals to which they dedicate lots of time and effort. They usually focus on taking advantage of other people for their own gain. All of their plans focus on achieving some end that they consider noble.
However, other research has established that Machiavellianism is unrelated to IQ. 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.
Machiavellianism is a personality trait that denotes cunningness, the ability to be manipulative, and a drive to use whatever means necessary to gain power. Machiavellianism is one of the traits that forms the Dark Triad, along with narcissism and psychopathy.
Machiavellianism is not good, because people with Machiavellian traits tend to manipulate or deceive others in order to meet their goals.
Machiavellian personality traits are often associated with low levels of empathy and lack of interpersonal closeness. However, some individuals high on Machiavellian traits have been shown to be skilled at affective-perspective taking and thereby may appear to exhibit an empathic response.
Ever the cynic, Machiavellians believe that everyone is acting in their own self-interest, so they do not form close relationships and do not trust easily. Money and power mean more to them than relationships with people.
Recent studies have revealed that Machiavellians are emotionally detached and that this “affective blunting” is associated with intense feelings, emotional instability, negative emotions, and difficulty in enduring distress.
One may assume that, at least, Machiavellians at least are happy in their exploitative ways. But the data does not show this to be true. Machiavellians commonly experience depression, paranoia, low self-esteem, and a bevy of other cognitive issues.
The Machiavellian is more strategic in long-term planning in order to meet his/her self-serving goals. Consistent with this long-term view, the Machiavellian has good impulse control, typically better than that of the Narcissist. Overall, the Machiavellian appears less emotional than the Narcissist.
Machiavellians are characterized in the literature by low agreeableness, low conscientiousness, low openness, high neuroticism (Jakobwitz & Egan, 2006; Lee & Ashton, 2005; Paulhus & Williams, 2002; Rauthmann, 2012; Vernon et al., 2008) and theoretically low extraversion.
While, Skinner (1982) showed that both male and female Machiavellians exhibited higher degrees of depression and anxiety than the general population with moderate personality traits (Ali and Chamorro-Premuzic, 2010).
Machiavellianism is not a mental health diagnosis; rather, it's a personality trait describing a manipulative individual who deceives and tricks others to achieve goals. It is based on the political philosophy of the 16th-century writer Niccolò Machiavelli.
There is also evidence that Machiavellian individuals project their own insecure personality to people, preventing them from seeing the best in others.
INTPs and INTJs are the most likely to be intelligent. They are analytical individuals who are natural problem solvers. Both types can take abstract concepts and explore them in depth. This allows them to see the world in a different way and come up with creative solutions.
The antagonistic personality trait Machiavellianism (Mach) should be characterized by duplicity, proclivity to manipulation, cynical disregard of others, long-term planning, and low aggression. Opposed to theoretical descriptions, recent studies revealed links between Mach and neuroticism, impulsivity, and aggression.
What personality has the highest IQ? INTJ (Introvert, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging) type scores the highest on conceptual IQ tests among all 16 personality types. They are good at consuming large amounts of information and solving analytical problems for widespread application.
“People with a Machiavellian personality tend to manipulate, lie, act callously, and disregard morality,” she says. “This is all in an effort to achieve goals or gain power.” They tend to exhibit three main characteristics: they lack empathy, they're deliberate, and they're self-confident.
People exhibiting high levels of Machiavellianism (Christie and Geis, 1970) are characterized by interpersonal manipulation, such as the use of flattery and deceit, as well as by aloof, cynical, and traditionally amoral viewpoints adopted in order to promote their own goals/interests (Christie and Geis, 1970; Fehr et ...
“Machiavellians are sly, deceptive, distrusting, and manipulative. They are characterized by cynical and misanthropic beliefs, callousness, a striving for … money, power, and status, and the use of cunning influence tactics.
From there, the word “Machiavellian” was born, which describes anyone who's scheming, unscrupulous, or cunning. In 1970, psychologists Richard Christie and Florence Geiss identified Machiavellianism as a personality trait involving manipulativeness, deceit, and a cold, calculating, cynical view of others.
Another possible explanation for the success of Machiavellians is that high Mach persons are particularly skilled in controlling emotion. An emotional involvement in social encounters may prevent them from achieving their goal that is, exploiting others.
Machiavellians fall on a spectrum, from low Machs — who are people that are not very selfish — to high Machs, who are, for lack of a more scientific description, selfish jerks.
Traits associated with Machiavellianism include duplicity, manipulation, self-interest, and a lack of both emotion and morality. Psychopathy: personality traits associated with psychopathy include a lack of empathy or remorse, antisocial behavior, and being manipulative and volatile.
Machiavellianism correlated positively, but weakly, with depression. Higher levels of Machiavellianism most often clustered with low levels of depression. No substantial link was found between Machiavellianism and general health status.
For Machiavelli, the two most important animals to emulate were the lion and the fox. The lion and the fox were well-understood metaphors during Machiavelli's time as they appeared in many works including Aesop's Fables and ancient Hebrew proverbs.