Osobowość makiawelisty i jego relacje z ludźmi

Abstract

The aim of the work is to present the psychological research database concerning the syndrome of a Machiavellian personality, as well as to present the author’s own research devoted to the social functioning of people presenting a different level of Machiavellianism. Part I presents profiles of a Machiavellian and non-Machiavellian, outlined on the basis of the researchers’ results collected within the last 50 years. The first chapter introduces the origins of the construct and a characteristic of a Machiavellian personality, based on the early experimental studies. Chapter two describes differences concerned with the functioning of an emotional-motivational and cognitive sphere among high and low Machs, as well as the connection of Machiavellianism with the features having the nature of individual differences. Chapter three is devoted to the connections of a Machiavellian personality with psychopathology and asocial behaviour Machiavellianism is a feature which appears mainly in contacts with other people. Chapter four discusses a relationship between Machiavellianism and features important in the social exchange, as well as presents ways of communication, influencing others, and undergoing influence, typical of Machiavellians and non-Machiavellians. Also, the functions of Machiavellians in groups were described. One of the most important Machiavellian qualities is a negation of a traditionally- understood morality. The next chapter presents the results of the research devoted to the connections of Machiavellianism with ethical opinions and non-ethical behaviours such as lie and deception. The studies on Machiavellianism were criticized for the lack of a broader theoretical scope. Chapter six constitutes a suggestion of incorporating these studies into the field of evolutionary biology, economic theory of human bahaviour, and game theory. In chapter seven, on the other hand, viewpoints on the usefulness of a Machiavellian in the role of a leader and consequences of a Machiavellian attitude in his/her work place were discussed. The origins and measurements of Machiavellianism as a relatively stable feature in human beings were presented in the two subsequent chapters. The second part of the book presents the results of the author’s own studies, devoted to the issue of the functioning of Machiavellians and non-Machiavellians in relations with people. The subject-matter of the first research, the results of which were presented in the tenth chapter, constituted the relations between Machiavellianism and the qualities of friendship. The research subjects were composed of a pair of friends of the same sex. The level of Machiavellianism was much more connected with the evaluations of friendship in the group represented by men whereas a direction of these regularities showed invariably that Machiavellianism does not bring about satisfactory friendships in the case of men. The higher the level of Machiavellianism, the lower the sense of closeness with friends, the lower the evaluations of the probability of friendship duration, the higher the sense of the conflict level, the lower the support given and obtained, the higher the control in the relationship. Machiavellianism does not bring about trust, the sense of friend’s attractiveness and general satisfaction with friendship either. In the case of female friendships, a negative influence of Machiavellianism represented by female friends on the relationship was observed in a more subtle way — in the lower trust towards the friend and higher sense of being controlled by her. Chapter eleven presents the second research devoted to the relationship between the level of Machiavellianism of spouses and satisfaction with their marriage, and their communicative behaviours. The research subjects constituted married couples. The role of female Machiavellianism turned out to be more important, which can be connected with traditional gender roles and expectations towards them. High-Mach wives were less satisfied with their marriage, however Machiavellianism represented by their husbands was not connected with marriage satisfaction. Machiavellian wives represented fewer desired and more undesired communicative behaviours, which was reflected both in their self-evaluation and their husbands’ assessment. Although husbands — Machiavellians also represented fewer desired and more undesired communicative behaviours, their wives did not notice it. The twelfth chapter presented the results of the third research constituting the analysis of the connection between the level of Machiavellianism of a given person with his/her attitudes and evaluations considered important in the social exchange, concerned with help, reciprocation, and perception of similarity to other people. Machiavellians showed lower readiness to help others, and lower tendency to repay for the favour done by someone than non-Machiavellians. Machs had a tendency to a lower evaluation of their own similarity to their close friends and family. The end of the work is an attempt to summarize — incorporate new elements deriving from the studies in question into the image of a Machiavellian, and outline the perspectives for further studies. The connections of Machiavellianism with pathology (psychopathy, narcissism and personality disorder), immaturity of ethical opinions given by Machiavellians and their propensity for unethical behaviours (lies and deception), as well as the fact that Machiavellians are not better at professional work, are worse at close relationships with people, constitute some of the arguments allowing for a negative evaluation of the consequences of a Machiavellian attitude. High Machiavellianism is not beneficial either for a Machiavellian individual or other people.