Psychological Reports, 1995, 77, 755-759.

0 Psychological Reports 1995

NARCISSISM AND MACHIAVELLIANISM '

JOHN McHOSKEY

Sutntnary.-Associations of Machiavellianism and narcissism were examined in

two samples (Ns=214 and 205) via the Mach-rV and the Narcissistic Personality In-
ventory. Scores on these s&-report measures were correlated. Machiavehanism scores
were positively associated with aspects of narcissism which indicate maladjustment,
i.e., entitlement and exploitativeness, and inversely associated with adaptive narcissis-
tic tendencies, i.e., self-sufficiency. The discussion focuses on the relative adjustment
of those scoring high on Machiavellianism.

The present paper examined associations of Machiavehanisrn (1981)

and narcissism. People who score high on Machiavellianism are character-
ized by a propensity for interpersonal manipulation, e.g., flattery and deceit,
emotional detachment, and a generally cynical viewpoint. The Machiavellian-
ism construct is now well established in the literature on personality as over
30 years of research largely supports the initial conceptualizations of Christie
and Geis [1970; see Fehr, Samsom, & Paulhus (1992) and Geis (1978) for
reviews]. Narcissism is associated with extreme self-focus and vanity, a con-
stant need for attention, admiration, and self-determination, an expectation
of special favors, and a w h g n e s s to exploit others to obtain such favors
(Freud, 1914/1957; Mdon, 1981).
The primary similarity between Machiavehanism and narcissism is, of
course, a propensity for interpersonal manipulation. Previous accounts have
linked the interpersonal manipulations of Machiavehan persons to an affec-
tive detachment and a resulting tendency to be task- rather than person-ori-
ented (Geis, 1978). A lack of empathic concern and an inabhty to take the
perspective of others are also defining features of narcissism (Watson &
Morris, 1991). Moreover, separate investigations of narcissism and Machia-
velhanism in the context of the interpersonal circumplex-a two-dunension-
al space defined by a horizontal axis of love and a vertical axis of dominance
(i.e., Wiggins, 1979)-indicate that they share a similar location in interper-
sonal space. Both constructs fall into the upper-left quadrant of the interper-
sonal circumplex and are thus associated with similar interpersonal features,
e.g., dominance, arrogance, and a lack of interpersonal warmth (see Bradlee
& Emmons, 1992; Gurtman, 1991, 1992).

'The author thanks Bridgette Pistolesi, Walter Olson, Gary Burdell, and Andrea James for
their assistance during the data collection. Corres ondence concerning this aper should be
addressed to John W. McHoskey. Department of Wychology, Brackett Hall, Elemson Univer-
sity, Clemson, SC 29634 (e-mail: JMCHOSK@CLEMSON.EDU).
 Thirty years of research has been largely guided by Christie and Geis'
(1970) suggestion that Machiavehanism is not associated with psychopathol-
ogy. However, emerging evidence suggests that this assumption requires mod-
ification (see AUsopp, Eysenck, & Eysenck, 1991; Fehr, et al., 1992). In the
present context, positive associations were anticipated between scores on Ma-
chiavelhanism and both the entitlement and exploitative aspects of narcis-
sism; evidence indicates that these aspects of narcissism are associated with
maladjustment (e.g., Emmons, 1987; Watson & Biderman, 1993; Watson &
Morris, 1991). Thus, support for this prediction would add to growing evi-
dence that Machiavellianism is associated with pathological features.

Subjects and Procedure

Data were collected from two samples. The first sample consisted of
upper-level psychology students from Potsdam College in upstate New York
(N=214, 173 women). The second sample consisted of introductory psy-
chology students from Clemson University in South Carolina (N= 209, 115
women). Both samples received additional course credit for their optional
participation and also an oral and written debriefing at the conclusion of the
study.
Measures
The Mach-IV (Christie & Geis, 1970) is a 20-item inventory which mea-
sures respondents' agreement with Machiavehan beliefs on 7-point scales in
Llkert format. The items endorse the use of manipulative interpersonal tac-
tics such as flattery and deceit or espouse cynical and tradtiondy immoral
viewpoints (half of the items are negatively worded and so were reversed in
scoring). The scale's validity and reliabht~are well documented (Wrights-
man, 1991).
The Narcissistic Personabty Inventory ( R a s h & H d , 1979, 1981) is a
40-item inventory with a forced-choice format designed to measure individ-
ual differences in narcissism. Subjects are required to select from a pair of
alternatives the statement with which they agree most. The scale measures
seven interrelated aspects of narcissism, namely, superiority, vanity, entitle-
ment, authority, exhibitionism, exploitativeness, and self-sufficiency. R a s h
and Terry (1988) presented extensive reliabhty and validity evidence for the
inventory.
RESULTS
Descriptive statistics and reliabhties for the measures of Machiavellian-
ism and narcissism are presented in Table 1. To compensate for the defi-
cient reliabhties observed for several subscales of the Narcissistic Personality
Inventory, zero-order correlations were corrected for attenuation. To avoid
 NARCISSISM AND MACHIAVELLIANISM 757
TABLE 1
D E S C R STATISTICS
~ P ~ AND RELIAFIIUTIES MACHLAVELLWISM
FORn i ~ A N D NARCISSISM
MEASURES

Scale Number Sample One Sample Two

of Items (N=214) ( N = 209)
M SD r" M SD r"

Mach-IV 20 74.0 12.0 .72 75.7 14.4 .53

Narcissistic Persondry Inventory 40 13.8 6.6 .83 16.5 6.6 .83
Authority 8 3.7 2.2 .74 4.4 2.2 .75
Exhibitionism 7 2.1 1.8 .67 2.5 1.8 .64
Superiority 5 1.9 1.3 .51 2.4 1.3 .47
Enritlemen t 6 1.4 1.2 .41 1.8 1.3 .41
Exploitauveness 5 1.5 1.4 .62 1.7 1.4 .52
Self-sufficiency 6 2.1 1.4 .40 2.5 1.3 .33
Vanity 3 1.0 1.0 .65 1.1 1.1 .64
"Cronbach alpha for the Mach-N, Kuder-Richardson 20 for the Narcissistic Personality In-
ventory and subscales.

overestimating the actual relationships between Machiavehanism and narcis-

sism, an improved reliabhty of .75 was employed in this correction (see Nun-
n d y & Bernstein, 1994, -pp.
- 256-258). The zero-order correlations between
Machiavehanism, narcissism, and subjects' sex are presented in Table 2. Men
in both samples scored higher on the Mach-IV. In addition, in both samples
Machiavehanism scores were positively associated with ratings of entitle-
ment, exploitativeness, and exhibitionism but inversely associated with ;elf-
sufficiency.
To control for the influence of subjects' sex and redundancy between
subscales of the Narcissistic Person&ty Lnventory, partial correlations were
TABLE 2
ZERO-ORDER
AND PARTIAL BEWEENMACHIAVELLLANISM
CORRELATIONS AND NARCISSISM

Narcissism Machiavellianism
Sample One Sample Two
Zero-order Parual Zero-order Partial
N P I Total Score .26$ .22$ .1jc .13=
~uthoric~ .16* -.02 -.05 -.1jc
~xhibitionism~ .27$ .11 .14* -.39$
Superioricy .06 -.02 .07 .33$
~ntitlement~ .33$ .14* .39$ .44$
E~~loitativeness .46$ .32$ .40$ .58$
Self-sufficiency -.03 -. 14* -.29$ -.68$
vaniryb -.04 -. 13' .03 .02
Subjecls' Sex .18* .15*
Note.-Sample One N=214, Sample Two N=205. Subjecrs' sex was dummy coded: O=fe-
male, 1 =male
"Partial correlations c o n t r o h g for Subjects' sex. b ~ a r t i a lcorrelations controlling for subjects'
sex and other Narcissistic Personality Inventory subscales.
*p<.05. tp<.01. $p<.001. Cp<.lO.
computed. These results are also presented in Table 2. Of primary interest
are the results which replicated across samples. Machiavelltanism scores were
positively associated with both the entitlement and exploitative subscales of
the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. In addtion, Machiavehanism scores
were inversely associated with rated self-sufficiency (see Table 2). The partial
correlations for the remaining narcissism subscales were either nonsignificant
or inconsistent across the two samples.
Dlscuss~o~
The results confirm the anticipated @age between scores on narcis-
sism and Machiavellianism. The results which replicated across samples are
of primary interest. Machiavellianism was positively associated with the enti-
tlement and exploitativeness aspects of narcissism, and evidence indicates
that these subscales measure pathological aspects of narcissism (Emmons,
1987; Watson & Biderman, 1993; Watson & Morris, 1991). In addition, Ma-
chiavehanism scores were inversely associated with rated self-sufficiency, an
aspect of narcissism associated with adjustment (see Watson & Biderman,
1993). This provides addtional evidence suggesting that Christie and Geis'
initial conceptualnation of the Machiavellian as devoid of psychopathology
requires modification (see also Allsopp, et al., 1991; Fehr, et al., 1992; Gurt-
man, 1992). The results also suggest that narcissistic tendencies may provide
a basis for the outlook and interpersonal style of those scoring high on Ma-
chiavehanism.
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Accepted September 11, 1995.