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The volitional model of Machiavellianism emphasizes that the Machiavellian person chooses to be manipulative. The model is critiqued. An alternative model is proposed, which asserts that the Machiavellian is a person who is unconnected to his or her own emotion, that is he or she is alexithymic. This deficit results in an inability to emotionally connect to others with the result that other people are treated as objects to be controlled to meet his or her self-focused goals. The model was tested on a general population sample of university students. Findings indicate that Machiavellianism was highly associated with alexithymia. In particular Machianvellianism was positively associated with externally orientated thinking and difficulty in identifying feelings. In addition Machiavellianism was positively associated with shame proneness but negatively associated with guilt proneness. The findings are discussed in relation to the role of emotion and the formation of interpersonal relationships, and the concept of volitional Machiavellianism. Implications for the concept of "successful psychopathy" are explored.
The concept of the Machiavellian as someone who manipulates others for personal gain is part of popular culture. The Machiavellian is said to be "characterized by subtle or unscrupulous cunning; wily; astute" (Macquarie Library, 1997, p. 1289). The clear implication of this position is that the Machiavellian undertakes these cunning acts of his or her own volition. The term Machiavellian had its beginnings in 1513 when Machiavelli (1513/1966) published The Prince. This book advised rulers on how to acquire and maintain power through an opportunistic manipulation of social contexts. The central element in designating an act as Machiavellian is self-interest-an ultimate goal that is both rigorously and strategically pursued (Wilson, Near, & Miller, 1996). Much of the research conducted on Machiavellianism has assumed this view.
For example as a result of their early investigations Christie and Geis (1970) concluded that the foremost differentiating feature between high and low scorers on their test of Machiavellianism (known as "high" and "low" Machs) was the degree of emotion invested in interpersonal relations. They found, relative to low Machs, that high Machs relate to other people in a manner that is characteristically devoid of emotional attachment. This detached interpersonal orientation of high Machs is regarded as being so fundamental to the core of Machiavellianism that the term...