What is Machiavellian behavior?
Emily Ross
Published Jan 18, 2026
“Machiavellians are sly, deceptive, distrusting, and manipulative. They are characterized by cynical and misanthropic beliefs, callousness, a striving for … money, power, and status, and the use of cunning influence tactics.
What are the Machiavellian traits?
Machiavellianism is a personality trait that denotes cunningness, the ability to be manipulative, and a drive to use whatever means necessary to gain power. Machiavellianism is one of the traits that forms the Dark Triad, along with narcissism and psychopathy.
What is an example of Machiavellian?
Machiavellian is defined as a person who follows Machiavelli's ideas of deceitfulness in The Prince. An example of a Machiavellian is a person who will lie and cheat to get the throne. A follower of such principles and methods.
How do you know if you're a Machiavellian?
Signs of Machiavellianism
- only focused on their own ambition and interests.
- prioritise money and power over relationships.
- come across as charming and confident.
- exploit and manipulate others to get ahead.
- lie and deceive when required.
- use flattery often.
- lacking in principles and values.
What are Machiavellian tactics?
characterized by subtle or unscrupulous cunning, deception, expediency, or dishonesty: He resorted to Machiavellian tactics in order to get ahead. noun. a follower of the principles analyzed or described in The Prince, especially with reference to techniques of political manipulation.
30 related questions foundWhat causes Machiavellianism?
There is probably some genetic predisposition towards callous, selfish, and manipulative personality traits. However, early parental influences and home life are probably the deciding factor.
Can Machiavellianism be good?
Machiavellians have an excellent political sense, and they have the ability to learn the ins and outs of an organization in very little time, which allows them to navigate its power structure with dexterity. They are less obvious than the other two Dark Triad personalities.
Is Machiavellianism a mental illness?
Machiavellianism is one of the three personality traits referred to as the dark triad, along with narcissism and psychopathy. Some psychologists consider Machiavellianism to be essentially a subclinical form of psychopathy, as they both share manipulative tendencies and cold callousness as their primary attributes.
What is the Machiavellian philosophy?
Machiavelli believed that, for a ruler, it was better to be widely feared than to be greatly loved; a loved ruler retains authority by obligation, while a feared leader rules by fear of punishment.
How do you deal with a Machiavellian person?
Do not try to outmaneuver them. They are experts at their game, particularly the Machiavellian types. They will likely realize what you're trying to do and then redouble their own efforts to manipulate you. Do not take their words or their behavior toward you as an indication of your own self-worth.
Who was Machiavelli and what did he do?
Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian Renaissance political philosopher and statesman and secretary of the Florentine republic. His most famous work, The Prince (1532), brought him a reputation as an atheist and an immoral cynic.
Is Machiavellianism genetic?
The observed associations between mental toughness and Machiavellianism were attributable not only to common genetic factors but also to common non-shared environmental factors, indicating that experiences and social interactions outside of the family likely play a role in the co-development of Machiavellianism and low ...
Who is Machiavelli and why is he important?
Machiavelli was a 16th century Florentine philosopher known primarily for his political ideas. His two most famous philosophical books, The Prince and the Discourses on Livy, were published after his death.
What are Machiavelli main ideas in The Prince?
Part of Machiavelli's aim in writing The Prince is to investigate how much of a prince's success or failure is caused by his own free will and how much is determined by nature or the environment in which he lives. Machiavelli applies this question specifically to the failure of past Italian princes.
Was Machiavelli tortured?
Machiavelli's political life took a downward turn after 1512, when he fell out of favor with the powerful Medici family. He was accused of conspiracy, imprisoned, tortured and temporarily exiled.
What are Machiavelli's 3 principles?
Leaders should be feared rather than loved, “if you cannot be both”, in order to avoid a revolt. Leaders should have the support of the people because it's difficult to take action without their support. Leaders should hold good virtues. Leaders should be intelligent.
What are Machiavellian ethics?
According to Benner, Machiavelli's moral precepts are rooted in his conception of human agency as “bounded” and responsible: he posits that human nature generates a capacity for choice and action that permits people to overcome external forces (such as “fortune”) in order to realize tangible moral goods.
Was Machiavelli friends with the Medici?
Little is known of Machiavelli's early connections to the Medici. Apart from the friendship of his father, Bernardo, with the Medici chancellor Bartolomeo Scala, the best evidence for Niccolò's links to the Medici is the poem he addressed to Giuliano, son of the elder Lorenzo.
Was Machiavelli a good leader?
Machiavelli Believed Great Leaders Had These 5 Qualities
These necessary characteristics include being feared or loved (but not hated), having the people's support, convincingly displaying virtues, using one's own arms, and having intelligence.