Academic literature on the topic 'Psychopaths. Machiavellianism (Psychology) Manipulative behavior'

Previous studies have not demonstrated the hypothesized link between machiavellianism (interpersonally manipulative behavior) and psychopathy. In this research, Nigh Machs obtained significantly higher Psychopathy scores than Low Machs, and Mach V totals for Primary Psychopaths were significantly greater than those of Secondary Psychopaths. Both experiments suggest a relationship between Machiavellianism and primary psychopathy.

Fraud is widespread and every day it is more and more creative. Machiavellianism is of great interest for the symptom complex of fraud victims and resistance to manipulative behavior. The authors studied the psychological profile of the low and high machiavellians. The first hypothesis was that low machiavellians have different level of hostility, development of such traits as Consent and Conscientiousness, moral identity, anti-social creativity, and thinking styles, than high machiavellians. The second hypothesis said that machiavellians of different levels have different values. According to the hypothesis, low machiavellians value social focus, while high machiavellians value personal focus. The sample consisted of 150 students (the average age was 18.8 ±1.50). We used the fol-lowing adapted questionnaires: aggression (A. Bass, M.Perry), "NEO-FFI" of the question-naire "NEO PI-R" (P. Costa, R. MacRae), "Mac-IV", behavioral features of malevolent crea-tivity (N. Hao et al.), PVQ-R (Sh. Schwartz), CTI (Epstein). The questionnaire By K. Aquina and A. Reed II (2002) was used to diagnose the moral identity. Low machiavellians have significantly higher (according to the Mann-Whitney criterion) Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, moral identity, higher values of Social focus, General Scale of Constructive Thinking, Naive optimism and significantly lower anti-social creativity, higher values of Personal focus, Categorical thinking, hostility. Naive optimism significantly positively correlated with the values of Achievement, Security – personal, Security – Public, interpersonal Conformity, Universalism concern for nature, Benevolence as the sense of duty". According to regression analysis, the predictors of Naive optimism were the values Security – personal and Security – public. We have compiled a psychological profile of young people with low values of Machiavel-lianism. It includes such features as the importance of moral identity, low hostility, control of one's own impulses, cooperation with other people, consideration of the interests of others, overcoming personal interests for the sake of the interests of others, self-restraint and order. They will not use their own creativity to harm other people; they are able to adapt their way of thinking to the requirements of the situation. The peculiarity of low machiavellians is a high naive optimism, that is situational, and combined with the significance of the values of per-sonal and public security. Naive optimism can manifest itself in situations where somebody can offer something that is meaningful to a person with a naive optimism mindset. In such situations, it is possible to use unconstructive strategies, and be unable to recognize the threat. The listed set of characteristics creates a risk of being manipulated by fraudsters. The results show that thinking styles, values, and levels of self-control are important for the study of manipulative behavior victims and the study of resistance to such behavior in people of different age.

The article discusses the results of a study of the level of development of the propensity to manipulate other people on the example of cadets of a departmental institution in order to establish differences in the characteristics of their relationship to themselves. The study was conducted on the basis of the Vologda Institute of Law and Economics of the Federal Penal Service of Russia. It was attended by 65 cadets of the 2nd and 3rd courses of the Faculty of Psychology. The methods used by V. V. Znakov “Questionnaire for Machiavellianism” and the method of studying self-replication by S. R. Pantileev were used. As a result of data analysis using mathematical statistics methods negative correlation relationships were established between the tendency to manipulation and closeness, self-management, the idea of the ability to arouse respect and sympathy in others, self-worth and self-reliance of cadets. Differences in the level of closeness, perception of other people’s attitudes towards themselves, self-attachment among students with different propensities for manipulation and significant differences on the “internal conflict” and “self-management” scales between students with low and medium propensity for manipulative behavior were also established. The findings suggest that a high propensity to manipulate is combined with self-doubt, low self-esteem, dissatisfaction with oneself, and perception of oneself as not worthy of the respect and sympathy of others. The results of the study emphasize the need to correct the propensity for manipulative behavior in order to change a person’s attitude to himself and other people. The data obtained can be used in the activities of practical psychologists.

Abstract. The dark triad of personality (D3) – consisting of psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism – is a set of socially aversive personality traits. All three traits encompass disagreeable behavior and a particular disregard for the well-being of others, but also a tendency to strategic and deceptive manipulation of social environments in order to attain one′s goals. To exercise these complex manipulations effectively it seems beneficial to have high cognitive abilities. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to examine possible relationships between intelligence and the dark triad. A total of 143 studies were identified to estimate the strength of relationships between the D3 and general, verbal, and nonverbal intelligence. The results indicate that none of the constructs of the dark triad are meaningfully related to intelligence. However, there was a small negative correlation between intelligence and Factor 2 psychopathy. The substantial heterogeneity regarding the observed effect sizes could not be explained with meta-regression for the most part. There was no evidence for a publication bias. In total, the results challenge the notion that the dark triad is an adaptive set of personality traits that enables individuals to effectively manipulate their social surroundings.

PurposeStudies highlighting negative behavioral influences of Machiavellians are plentiful; however, those prescribing their management are scarce. Machiavellians are intelligent, adaptable and resourceful people with negative, self-serving and unethical persona traits. Their abundance in organizations poses a challenge for managers in minimizing negative consequences of Machiavellian's manipulative behaviors and tap into their true potential. Leadership can play a crucial role in this regard. This purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating effects of transformational leadership (TFL) versus transactional leadership (TSL) styles on the relationship between subordinates' Machiavellianism and their organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). The aim was to highlight the style that better adept in managing high-Mach subordinates.Design/methodology/approachThis cross-sectional study used multiple surveys administered to 90 managers and their 269 subordinates from 56 organizations. Multiple regression was used for testing and hypothesize linear and supplementary nonlinear relationships between the study variables.FindingsAfter a detailed data analysis, authors posit that, as compared to TFL, the TSL style is better suited for managing Machiavellian subordinates.Practical implicationsBy employing transactional tactics, leaders can reign in the divergent behavior of Machiavellians, thus, transforming them into useful organizational assets.Originality/valueThis study expands on limited body of knowledge on managing Machiavellians. It advocates using TSL for improving the OCB of Machiavellians while countering their CWBs. Furthermore, this study contributes to transactional/transformational theories as it lends credence to the situational theory of leadership.