Machiavellian Personality- Causes of Machiavellian Personality

Machiavellian Personality

Manipulation is a common tactic used by many to gain control over others and deteriorate their self-confidence. The technique is used by many people, to exploit the naive and empathetic personality types. Some common personalities that use manipulation to gain a sense of power include narcissists, psychopaths, borderline personalities, destructive ENFPs, and Antisocial personalities. These are certain terms that you might be aware of but one such personality type that is unique and known for its manipulative tactics is the Machiavellian personality type.

Machiavellian personality is a very complex personality type with manipulative behavior. People who belong to this personality type are quite cunning and use manipulation to gain control over others. Their prime targets include people who are empaths, INFJ’s, ISFJ’s, codependents, and insecure people. These people tend to have kind personalities and they tend to believe people easily. This makes them the best possible prey to manipulate and exploit. Even people who have a machiavellian personality tend to use empaths and gain power from them.

Machiavellian Personality

A person who has a Machiavellian Personality often engages in manipulative behavior and controls others to gain personal goals. These people often lack empathy and do not understand the emotions or feelings of others. They have a cunning nature which is why they exploit others and do not care about their feelings. According to a study, it was found that those who have a Machiavellian personality fail to understand emotional connections and behave in a manipulative manner because they are more prone to alexithymia, a psychological condition where you find it hard to define emotions and understand emotional impulses, anhedonia which is the inability to feel any pleasure even in the pleasurable activities, depression a state of mind where you feel isolated and alone, and anxiety

The personality of Machiavelli is characterized by traits of cunningness, manipulation through the usage of deceit, boastfulness of one’s abilities, having cynical thoughts, being unfriendly with others’ behavior, and holding unethical thoughts that are opposite to the moral viewpoints of others. Machiavelli engages in these tactics to prove his superiority, impose control over others, and achieve personal goals rather than work for the community’s goals.

The Dark Triad 

The dark triad is a psychological concept developed by Delroy Paulhus and Kevin Williams in 2002, that addresses the three most manipulative and cruel personality types of all. The dark triad has three personalities that are arranged in a triangle. Out of those three, the Machiavellian personality is one of them. The personalities included in the dark triad are the most cynical personalities and researchers have conducted a lot of studies regarding the behavior and persuading tactics used by them. The other two personalities that come under this triad are as follows- 

  1. Narcissism- We all are aware of the term narcissists and how they have an inborn tendency to be cruel and mean to others. Their manipulative tactics are well-known among everyone. A narcissist has a highly grandiose image of oneself and to maintain this image engages in manipulating and exploiting others. A narcissist can be born a narcissist, or the environmental conditions can cause him to become one.
  1. Psychopathy- It is a recognized behavioral disorder and can be treated with the help of a psychologist or therapist. People who suffer from psychopathy are called psychopaths. A common problem that these psychopaths go through is the inability to understand emotions. They have a hard time understanding others’ emotions as well as their own. They also show a very different behavior that is quite abnormal and is associated with an antisocial and deviant behavior model. They fail to learn from their experiences and thus engage in the same act again and again.

What are some causes of Machiavellian Personality? 

As we know that all behaviors are a product of learning, similarly there might be some reasons why a person has developed a Machiavellian personality. These reasons depend on the nature and nurture that the person has experienced. The research was conducted by many psychologists, to find the meaning behind such behaviors. Now let’s try to understand certain causes associated with machiavellian personality and how they develop over time. 

  • Parental Isolation- A person who receives parental isolation is more prone to develop a Machiavellian personality. Neglect or lack of warmth can cause feelings of isolation which the child is hard to overcome. Parental neglect creates a sense of insecurity in the child and can increase anxiety as well. Due to insecurity the child may use exploiting others to gain back a personal sense of control and power.
  • Unpredictable Environment- A child born in an unpredictable environment is prone to Machiavellian personality because the environment is stressful for the child. Such an environment wouldn’t provide healthy parenting as the child would always be in a fight-or-flight situation. The resources available around the child aren’t enough to provide for their healthy development and thus the child wouldn’t understand situations and people around him at an emotional level.
  • Machiavellian parents- This association of Machiavellian parents producing Machiavellian children is quite well known. It states that people who are born in fatalities where the caregiver is a Machiavellian are more prone to develop the personality. It either can be used a as coping mechanism to handle the parent or could be learned through observation. The basis of these theories isn’t proved thus their validity is not guaranteed.
  • Defensive Independence- When a child is excessively controlled by the parents, or they experience rejection from caregivers this can lead to defensive independence. This often develops in response to the parent’s rejection and to control the painful feelings of rejection. Due to defensive independence, the child might also turn hostile, antisocial, engage in vandalism, show less emotion and become aggressive.

These are some of the common causes of Machiavellian personality.

How to spot a Machiavelli?

There are some common behaviors that a Machiavellist engages in. This will help you stop them and maintain your distance from them. Such people are highly manipulative and can drain out your energy. Thus even though you are an empath you need to keep your distance from them and understand their manipulative and persuasive tactics. 

  • Lack of Emotions- Have you ever met someone who, no matter what, doesn’t show any emotion towards the pain or loss or something else. Then he/she might belong to the dark triad developed by Delroy Paulhus and Kevin Williams. Lack of emotion is mostly related to the inability to understand others’ points of view from an emotional perspective. If you are a good observer and notice that your friend feels pleasure seeing someone else in pain then he/she is a Machiavellian.
  • Cannot follow rules- If someone from your friend group finds it hard to follow certain rules and regulations laid down by the school or the office, then they might have a Machiavellian personality. As these people always try to seek power by exploiting others, following certain rules laid by someone else makes them feel that they are losing their power. This feeling creates anxiety and thus they fail to follow the rules of any organization.
  • Competitive nature- If your friend or colleague always tries to compete and win, then he/she may have a Machiavellian personality type. They see every environment as a competition and thus compete at every level to satisfy their grandiose ego and seek power. All Machiavelli in their past needed to constantly compete with others to prove themselves in front of caregivers. Thus they tend to perform quite well in a competitive environment.
  • Friendly behavior- Most machiavellist behave in a friendly manner with everyone around them. It is a manipulative tactic used by them to gain their trust and then use them for personal goals. If you notice someone who behaves extra friendly, then they are trying to manipulate you into believing that they are genuine and kind but in reality, they are the complete opposite.
  • Cannot take criticism- People with a machiavellian personality cannot handle criticism as they feel it as a loss of power. They start using manipulative tactics like playing the victim card, gaslighting, etc to gain back the lost power. If someone from your close friends finds it hard to take criticism and use deceitful ways to get back at the person, then they might have a Machiavellian personality.
  • Control others- If someone from your friend group always tries to control the behavior and activities of every person in the group and gets irritated when someone doesn’t follow them, then he/she might have a Machiavellian personality. In the initial stages, they use soft tactics to grab attention and prove their worth to you. Then when you start trusting them they use their hard tactics to exploit you and control you to gain their personal goals.

How did the term Machiavellian emerge?

The term Machiavellian was first widely used by Niccolò Machiavelli who was an author and politician. He used the word in one of his books titled The Prince. This book was written in the 16th century and stated that leaders who hold power in a country or state should use Machiavellian tactics to control and maintain order in society. He put forward the concept of a self-absorbed personality that controls and manipulates others. As he was the first one to derive the concept thus he named it after his name.

Even though Niccolò Machiavelli wrote a book about Machiavellian personality and how it should be used more often he didn’t follow his suggestions. He was a true diplomat and thus couldn’t engage in such behavior.

How can we cope with Machiavellian?

Coping through something can be hard but it’s important to maintain our wellbeing and keep us positive. If you have encountered a Machiavellian personality and have got exploited by them, then you first need to accept that what happened to you is ok. You have the power to overcome it. Getting exploited and used can leave a lot of attained scars and thus we must attain them and change the perspective of life.

Different ways to cope from someone who has a Machiavellian personality are-  

  • Engage in self-care- When you suffer from any physical injuries you always consult a doctor and take a rest to feel better. Similarly when you are deeply hurt or exploited by someone who has a Machiavellian personality you start feeling that you’re worthless. This negative self-talk should be stopped. Try to empathize with your current situation and see strict boundaries with people around you. These boundaries should be respected at all costs. Engage in self-care activities like cooking a meal for yourself, enjoying a solo trip, eating out, etc. This can make you feel better.
  • Focus on yourself-  Being an empath, codependent will force you to approach the Machiavellist person and help them improve but you need to understand that their personality will remain stable throughout their life as they feel powerful because of it. Instead of focusing on changing them, focus on changing yourself. Try maintaining your distance from them and focus on growing your knowledge about manipulative tactics. 
  • Increase your knowledge-  If you have been manipulated by a Machiavellist, then you need to develop your knowledge base and grow your mindset to avoid getting hurt again. Try understanding the common ways they behave and how they tend to manipulate others. Read books, listen to podcasts, they will help you gain a better understanding of these people.

These were some coping methods that you can use to overcome a bad experience you had with someone who was a Machiavelli.

Conclusion 

There are people like Machiavellist who don’t understand human emotions and the suffering of others and thus continue behaving in the same manner. This is the main reason why you should keep yourself away from them and don’t sympathize with them. They aren’t used to understanding emotions and will exploit you even if you try to help them with their personality. The best option is to maintain distance and learn about their knowledge.

Machiavellian Personality- Causes of Machiavellian Personality

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