“Narcissists have a strong sense of entitlement and a constant need for attention and admiration. They are arrogant and consider themselves to be superior to others. “Machiavellians are sly, deceptive, distrusting, and manipulative.
Machiavellianism is a personality trait that denotes cunningness, the ability to be manipulative, and a drive to use whatever means necessary to gain power.
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.
Malignant narcissists are often regarded as having the most extreme form of NPD, and while they will have the regular qualities of someone with narcissistic personality disorder, their self-absorption and self-obsession is accompanied by some darker behaviors as well.
Cerebral Narcissist Traits
They hyperfocus on intellectual topics and go to great lengths to ensure others view them as the “smartest” in the room.
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.
Extraverted, Turbulent Social Engagers agreed the most. Social Engagers tend to be ambitious personalities, both in terms of improving their social status and improving themselves. Ambition can be a good thing, but in extreme cases, it can also be the foundation of a Machiavellian approach to life.
Traits associated with Machiavellianism include duplicity, manipulation, self-interest, and a lack of both emotion and morality.
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.
Machiavellianism is characterised by a manipulative interpersonal style, willingness to exploit others, and a preference for emotionally detached relationships.
Psychologists believe that people develop Machiavellian personality traits due to their upbringing, life experiences, and in some cases, genetic factors. It's thought that Machiavellianism is complex and most likely to develop under circumstances that involve early childhood trauma, although this isn't always the case.
Manipulation. Machiavellians lie, cheat, and flatter to get their way. They are long-term planners and calculated strategists, able to read people and to use their fears or weaknesses against them. They will bend rules, trick people, and fake sympathy to gain favors, McIntosh says.
Our study, published in Personality and Individual Differences, identified a group of individuals with dark traits who report above average empathic capacities – we call them "dark empaths". Since this study, the dark empath has earned a reputation as the most dangerous personality profile.
“Narcissists have a strong sense of entitlement and a constant need for attention and admiration. They are arrogant and consider themselves to be superior to others. “Machiavellians are sly, deceptive, distrusting, and manipulative.
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.
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.
In 1970, studies of Machiavelism led to clarifying Machiavellian personalities as toxic and hostile, with these leaders regarding others as objects or means for personal manipulation.
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).
Grandiose sense of self-importance
Grandiosity is the defining characteristic of narcissism. More than just arrogance or vanity, grandiosity is an unrealistic sense of superiority. Narcissists believe they are unique or “special” and can only be understood by other special people.
Although narcissists act superior, entitled and boastful, underneath their larger-than-life facade lies their greatest fear: That they are ordinary. For narcissists, attention is like oxygen. Narcissists believe only special people get attention.
Sociopaths are more dangerous than narcissists. People with antisocial personality disorder are more likely to be engaged in an abusive or controlling relationship. They're also more likely to be involved in illegal activities or financial fraud schemes.