Machiavellianism: 7 Traits, Signs & How to Deal With It

Machiavellianism traits describe a personality pattern in which a person systematically manipulates and exploits others to achieve their own goals — with little remorse and even less empathy. Named after the Italian political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli, this trait is one of the most studied concepts in modern personality psychology, and understanding it can fundamentally change the way you interpret the behavior of people around you.

This article breaks down what machiavellianism really means, how it connects to the broader dark triad personality model, how it relates to concepts like psychopathy and narcissistic personality disorder, and what it looks like in real-world settings such as the workplace. Whether you are trying to recognize warning signs in a relationship or simply want to understand human nature more deeply, this guide covers all the essential ground.

Once again, personality researcher and author of Villain Encyclopedia, Tokiwa (@etokiwa999), will provide the explanation.
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What Are Machiavellianism Traits? Definition and Core Meaning

Machiavellianism is a personality trait characterized by a cold, strategic tendency to manipulate and exploit other people in pursuit of personal gain. In psychology, the term was formalized in the 1970s when researchers Richard Christie and Florence Geis developed the Mach-IV scale to quantify these tendencies. People who score high on this trait tend to view others primarily as tools, calculate the best moves to advance their own interests, and feel little guilt in doing so.

It is important to distinguish Machiavellianism as a personality trait — a continuous spectrum — rather than a strict clinical diagnosis. Someone can score moderately or highly on Machiavellian measures without being labeled with antisocial personality disorder. That said, high scores are consistently linked with interpersonal conflict and ethically questionable behavior.

The core characteristics of people with strong Machiavellian tendencies generally include the following:

• Egocentric self-interest: Personal goals take clear priority over the feelings, rights, or well-being of others.
• Low empathy: Difficulty feeling or caring about how their actions affect other people emotionally.
• Disregard for moral norms: Rules and ethical standards are treated as inconvenient constraints rather than genuine guides for behavior.
• Strategic manipulation: A preference for calculated influence tactics — flattery, deception, or selective information sharing — to control outcomes.

In short, machiavellianism traits represent a troubling but fascinating intersection of strategic intelligence and ethical detachment. Understanding the definition clearly is the first step toward recognizing it in daily life.

Machiavellianism Traits Within the Dark Triad Personality Framework

Machiavellianism is 1 of the 3 components of the “Dark Triad” — a cluster of personality traits that also includes narcissism and psychopathy. All 3 traits share a self-centered, exploitative quality, but they differ in meaningful ways that are worth understanding separately.

Narcissistic personality tendencies are marked by an inflated self-image and a hunger for admiration and attention. People high in narcissism want to be seen as special. In contrast, people high in Machiavellianism are not primarily concerned with being admired — they are focused on gaining advantage. They tend to be more calculated, patient, and quietly strategic rather than loudly self-promotional.

Psychopathy traits, on the other hand, are distinguished by high impulsivity, thrill-seeking, and a near-total absence of fear or remorse. Research suggests that individuals high in psychopathy are more likely to engage in spontaneous, reckless harmful behavior. Machiavellian individuals, by comparison, tend to be more deliberate — they may cross ethical or even legal lines, but they tend to do so in planned, low-risk ways.

• Narcissism: Craves admiration; self-image is core motivation.
• Psychopathy: Impulsive, fearless, prone to overtly antisocial behavior.
• Machiavellianism: Cold, strategic, goal-oriented; exploits others through planning rather than impulse.

Despite these differences, all 3 traits reliably predict lower empathy and more exploitative interpersonal behavior. Studies indicate that individuals scoring high on all 3 dark triad components simultaneously tend to show the most pronounced difficulties in relationships and social settings.

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How Machiavellianism Relates to the HEXACO Personality Model and Intelligence

When measured through the HEXACO six-factor personality model, Machiavellianism shows its clearest connection to low scores on Honesty-Humility — a dimension not found in older 5-factor models like the Big Five. This makes the HEXACO framework particularly valuable for studying dark traits, because it captures sincerity, fairness, and greed-avoidance in ways that predict Machiavellian behavior more precisely.

Research using the HEXACO model tends to show the following pattern of associations with Machiavellianism:

• Honesty-Humility (H): Consistently low — this is the strongest link, reflecting a lack of sincerity and a willingness to exploit others for personal gain.
• Extraversion (E): Slightly below average — Machiavellian individuals tend to be more reserved and calculated rather than openly sociable.
• Emotional Stability: Tends toward the higher end — studies indicate that these individuals are often emotionally cool and not easily rattled, which supports their strategic approach.
• Agreeableness (A): Low — consistent with poor empathy and a preference for competition over cooperation.
• Openness to Experience (O): Slightly elevated — possibly reflecting a flexible, opportunistic approach to new information and situations.

Regarding intelligence, research suggests that individuals with strong machiavellianism traits may tend to show higher nonverbal intelligence relative to verbal intelligence. Nonverbal intelligence refers to the ability to read situations, interpret body language, and process information quickly without relying on words — all of which align naturally with a talent for reading social dynamics and identifying manipulation opportunities. However, it is important to note that the overall relationship between Machiavellianism and intelligence remains an active area of research, and no definitive conclusions have been established.

Interestingly, research also indicates that Machiavellianism shows no meaningful connection to self-enhancement tendencies — the desire to present oneself in an overly positive light. This sets it apart from narcissism: Machiavellian individuals tend to assess themselves and their abilities with a certain cold realism, neither inflating nor deflating their self-perception unnecessarily.

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Machiavellianism Traits, Antisocial Behavior, and Crime Risk

People with elevated machiavellianism traits tend to show a higher risk of engaging in rule-breaking and antisocial behavior, though the form this takes is typically more calculated than impulsive. This distinguishes them from individuals with high psychopathy traits, whose antisocial behavior often involves reckless, spontaneous acts.

In the realm of criminal behavior, Machiavellianism has been most consistently linked to economic and white-collar offenses — such as fraud, embezzlement, and deliberate deception for financial gain. The cold, strategic quality of the trait means that when lines are crossed, they tend to be crossed methodically, with risk calculations made in advance.

Beyond formal crime, research also points to elevated rates of what psychologists call delinquent behavior — socially undesirable conduct that may not rise to a criminal level but still reflects a disregard for rules and others’ welfare. Examples include:

• Persistent truancy or deliberate underperformance in academic or work settings as a form of defiance.
• Habitual rule-bending or policy violations when personal benefit outweighs perceived risk.
• Substance misuse or other conduct-related problem behaviors linked to low impulse control over norms.

Aggression is another important dimension. Studies indicate that individuals high in Machiavellianism tend to use all 3 major forms of aggression — physical, verbal, and relational — but are particularly skilled at relational aggression: deliberately damaging someone’s social relationships, reputation, or group standing. This form of aggression is subtle and often invisible to bystanders, making it especially difficult to address.

Finally, the exploitative pattern — taking credit for others’ work, leveraging someone’s vulnerabilities, or selectively withholding information to gain advantage — is one of the hallmark behavioral signatures of high Machiavellianism. While these behaviors may produce short-term wins, research consistently shows they tend to erode trust and damage long-term relationships and reputations.

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Power Harassment Signs and Workplace Manipulation Linked to Machiavellianism

One of the most practically important areas where machiavellianism traits appear is in the workplace, where they are closely associated with power harassment signs, bullying behavior, and covert manipulation. Understanding this connection can help employees, managers, and HR professionals identify toxic dynamics before they escalate.

People high in Machiavellianism who hold positions of authority may use their power not to develop their teams, but to maintain control and suppress those who challenge them. This can manifest in ways that are difficult to prove precisely because they are so strategic — the behavior is designed to be deniable.

Common workplace manipulation patterns associated with this trait include:

• Verbal harassment and gaslighting: Repeatedly undermining a colleague’s confidence through dismissive comments, questioning their competence, or reframing situations to make the target doubt their own perception of events.
• Threatening information exposure: Implying — sometimes obliquely — that private information about a colleague could be shared, creating a climate of fear and compliance.
• Social exclusion: Strategically cutting someone out of meetings, communication loops, or social events to diminish their influence and signal low status to others.
• Credit theft: Appropriating a subordinate’s or colleague’s ideas and presenting them as one’s own in front of decision-makers.

What makes workplace manipulation by Machiavellian individuals particularly damaging is its subtlety. Because the behavior is calculated rather than explosive, bystanders and even supervisors often fail to recognize it as harassment. Victims may internalize the abuse, questioning their own competence rather than identifying the source of the problem. Raising awareness of these specific power harassment signs is essential for building psychologically safe workplaces.

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How to Measure Machiavellianism Traits and Practical Self-Awareness Tips

Machiavellianism is measured using self-report questionnaire scales, each designed to capture the strategic, manipulative, and empathy-deficient aspects of the trait at different levels of detail. The most widely used instruments include:

• Mach-IV Scale: The original 20-item questionnaire developed in the 1970s. It remains one of the most cited tools in research and measures agreement with Machiavellian attitudes about human nature and manipulation.
• Machiavellian Personality Scale (MPS): A more comprehensive 45-item instrument that allows for finer-grained assessment across several sub-dimensions of the trait.
• Dirty Dozen (DD): A 12-item shortened scale designed for quick screening. Though brief, it shows reasonable validity for detecting dark triad tendencies in both research and applied settings.
• HEXACO Personality Inventory: A 60-item instrument that measures all 6 HEXACO dimensions, including Honesty-Humility — the dimension most directly capturing Machiavellian tendencies. You can take the online version here.

One important caveat with all self-report tools is that they are vulnerable to response distortion — people may answer in socially desirable ways, or high-Mach individuals may be especially skilled at presenting themselves strategically even on an anonymous questionnaire. For this reason, researchers recommend combining self-report data with observer ratings or behavioral measures where possible.

For individuals who recognize some of these tendencies in themselves, the following practical approaches may be beneficial:

• Practice perspective-taking deliberately: Make a habit of pausing before responding in interpersonal situations and asking yourself how the other person is likely feeling. This small routine can incrementally strengthen empathy over time.
• Audit your long-term relationship patterns: Because Machiavellian strategies tend to produce short-term gains but long-term relationship damage, honestly reviewing whether your closest relationships feel mutual and trusting can serve as a useful reality check.
• Leverage your strategic strengths ethically: The ability to think several steps ahead, stay emotionally composed under pressure, and read social dynamics accurately are genuine cognitive strengths. Channeling them into leadership, negotiation, or problem-solving — rather than manipulation — can yield more sustainable success.
• Consider working with a psychologist: Research suggests that approaches like cognitive behavioral therapy can help individuals with high dark triad scores improve their interpersonal patterns and reduce behaviors that damage relationships.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly are machiavellianism traits in psychology?

In psychology, machiavellianism traits refer to a personality pattern involving a strong tendency to manipulate and exploit others for personal gain, low empathy, and a willingness to disregard moral norms when convenient. Named after the Renaissance philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli, it is measured on a continuous scale rather than as a binary diagnosis. High scorers tend to be strategic, emotionally detached, and calculating in interpersonal relationships, making this trait one of the 3 components of the so-called “dark triad” alongside narcissism and psychopathy.

How is machiavellianism different from psychopathy?

While both machiavellianism and psychopathy traits involve low empathy and exploitative behavior, they differ primarily in impulsivity and the nature of harmful actions. Psychopathy is characterized by high impulsivity, sensation-seeking, and a tendency toward reckless antisocial behavior. Machiavellianism, by contrast, involves deliberate, calculated manipulation — when harmful actions are taken, they tend to be planned and strategic rather than spontaneous. Research suggests that Machiavellian individuals are less likely than those with psychopathy traits to engage in violent or overtly criminal conduct.

What are the warning signs of machiavellianism in the workplace?

Power harassment signs linked to machiavellianism in workplace settings include: consistently taking credit for colleagues’ work, using private information as leverage, strategically excluding certain people from key communications, and making subtly undermining comments designed to erode confidence. Unlike overt aggression, workplace manipulation by Machiavellian individuals is often quiet and deniable, which makes it harder to identify and address. Patterns of behavior over time — rather than isolated incidents — are usually the most reliable indicator.

Is machiavellianism inherited, or does environment shape it?

Research on dark triad heritability suggests that machiavellianism traits are influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Twin studies indicate a moderate heritable component, meaning genetics plays a role — but upbringing, early social experiences, and learned coping strategies also contribute meaningfully. It is not purely innate, and the degree to which these tendencies are expressed can be shaped by life circumstances, social norms, and personal development over time.

Can someone high in machiavellianism still be successful long-term?

Studies indicate that while machiavellianism traits may provide short-term advantages — such as outmaneuvering competitors or winning negotiations — the long-term picture is generally less favorable. The exploitative and deceptive behaviors associated with the trait tend to erode trust over time, damage professional reputations, and lead to social isolation. Sustainable success in most domains depends heavily on cooperation and trust-based relationships, which are areas where highly Machiavellian individuals tend to struggle.

How do I deal with a highly Machiavellian person?

The most practical approach to dealing with someone who displays strong machiavellianism traits is to establish and enforce clear personal boundaries, avoid sharing sensitive personal information that could later be used as leverage, and remain emotionally composed rather than reactive. Documenting interactions in professional settings can also be valuable. It is generally advisable to manage expectations rather than try to change the other person’s personality, as fundamental trait change requires long-term professional support and genuine personal motivation.

Are there gender differences in machiavellianism traits?

Research generally finds that males tend to score slightly higher on measures of machiavellianism traits than females on average, a pattern that has been replicated across multiple studies and cultures. However, individual variation is substantial — there are many women who score high and many men who score low. Gender alone is not a reliable predictor. Social and cultural factors that shape how manipulative behavior is expressed or suppressed may also contribute to observed average differences.

Summary: Understanding Machiavellianism Traits Helps You Navigate the Social World

Machiavellianism traits represent one of psychology’s most important windows into the darker side of human social behavior. From its roots in the dark triad personality framework to its measurable links with workplace manipulation, antisocial personality tendencies, and power harassment signs, this trait shapes real-world outcomes in ways that affect all of us — whether we encounter it in others or recognize shades of it within ourselves. Research consistently shows that while strategic thinking and emotional composure can be genuine strengths, when paired with low empathy and a willingness to exploit, they become a source of interpersonal harm rather than sustainable achievement.

The most important takeaway is that awareness itself is protective. Understanding what machiavellianism traits look like — in personality assessments, in daily interactions, and in workplace dynamics — gives you the ability to set boundaries, ask sharper questions, and make more informed choices about the people you trust and work with. If you want to explore where you stand on these dimensions for yourself, consider checking how your own personality profile maps onto the dark triad and HEXACO dimensions — the insights may surprise you.

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