Machiavellianism is characterized by manipulation and exploitation of others, an absence of morality, lack of emotion, and a higher level of self-interest. Psychopathy is characterized by continuous antisocial behavior, impulsivity, selfishness, callous and unemotional traits (CU), and remorselessness.
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.
Narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism are referred to as the dark triad of personality traits. Narcissists have an overblown sense of self, whereas psychopaths find it hard to empathize with others. Machiavellians, on the other hand, are cunning like politicians.
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.
The personality trait of Machiavellianism has also been described in contemporary studies of leadership (Judge et al., 2009); within the leadership arena, individuals who score high on Machiavellianism tend to be cunning, manipulative and will use whatever means necessary to gain political power.
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.
Machiavellianism is characterized by manipulation and exploitation of others, an absence of morality, lack of emotion, and a higher level of self-interest. Psychopathy is characterized by continuous antisocial behavior, impulsivity, selfishness, callous and unemotional traits (CU), and remorselessness.
Mental abilities
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 can be both positive and negative in organizations depending on how it is used. When Machiavellianism is used to increase managerial effectiveness by providing necessary direction to subordinates to accomplish organizational goals, it is considered a positive attribute.
Machiavellianism was more strongly associated with success – people with these manipulative tendencies did tend to rise to leadership positions; you don't have to be Don Draper to realise that pragmatically pulling other's levers will put you in a position of power.
Unlike sadists, psychopaths don't harm the harmless simply because they get pleasure from it (though they may). Psychopaths want things. If harming others helps them get what they want, so be it. They can act this way because they are less likely to feel pity or remorse or fear.
Machiavellianism is considered part of the 'Dark Triad', being one of three personality traits that also includes narcississm and sociopathy / psychopathy.
Dark empathy is characterized by emotional distance disguised as charm and understanding. It is usually motivated by personal gain. Dark empathy is related to the dark triad personality traits. The dark triad refers to the malevolent personality types of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.
Traits associated with Machiavellianism include duplicity, manipulation, self-interest, and a lack of both emotion and morality.
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.
There is probably some genetic predisposition towards callous, selfish, and manipulative personality traits. However, early parental influences and home life are probably the deciding factor.
A dark empath is a term that describes someone who exploits their ability to understand how other people think and feel. They can recognize another person's perspective while also showing signs of psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism.
Machiavelli outlines three ways that you can cause not just anger but hatred in another: you take away another person's property, their honor, or their women, you force them to endure a setback in lifestyle, or. you force them to become better people when they do not wish to be (The Prince, 76–77).
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).
In contrast to narcissists, Machiavellians do not necessarily have to be the center of attention and are satisfied with the role of puppeteer, unobtrusively pulling the strings. Psychopaths “are unlikely to consider the needs and wishes of others and are unafraid of crossing moral boundaries. …
There is also evidence that Machiavellian individuals project their own insecure personality to people, preventing them from seeing the best in others.
For example, Christie and Geis (1970) proposed that Machiavellianism consists of two traits: interpersonally manipulative tactics, and a cynical view of human nature.
In current diagnostic classifications psychopathy is regarded as being synonymous with antisocial personality disorder in DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association 2000) and dissocial personality disorder in ICD-10 (World Health Organization 2004).
The FFMI was shown to relate as expected to measures of Big Five personality traits, current Machiavellianism measures, psychopathy, narcissism, ambition, and impulsivity.
Clinical observations at ASH have suggested 4 possible subtypes of psychopathy: narcissistic, borderline, sadistic, and antisocial.