The Concept of Machiavellianism: A Diversity of Approaches and Evaluations

The paper discusses the ambiguity and contradictions of the term 'Machiavellianism' and its operationalization in concrete psychological researches. The concept is analysed in following aspects: a) the contradiction between the personality traits of Niccolo Machiavelli and the modern meaning of the concept 'Machiavellist'; b) the differences in understanding this concept between psychologists and ordinary people, as well as between psychologists themselves; c) the heterogeneity, overloading with different, often contradictory, psychological content of the statements in the MACHIV test, the most commonly used instrument for measuring a person's level of Machiavellianism. The authors point to the complexity of Machiavellianism as a psychological phenomenon as well as to the complexity and multidimensionality of human notions about it. The authors also propose a possible scheme for integrating psychological theories of Machiavellianism.

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