ABSTRACT

Recent research findings reported that the uniqueness of the Machiavellian character lies in tactical skills and flexible decision-making. They often resort to “pretended altruism” aimed at making a good impression on others and maintaining influence within the group. They also easily avoid being punished in a social dilemma situation, which may be due to an elevated activity of brain areas such as their orbitofrontal cortex and insula. Machiavellians seem to be actually able to shift from one strategy to the other when their interests so require. They adapt to the changing challenges in their social environment by continuously changing their behaviour. It is not surprising that their decisions in a social dilemma task are largely influenced by the presence and number of altruists in the group, whereas non-Machiavellians’ decisions are primarily influenced by personality factors. Machiavellians may be described as a protean character: they do not rely on one single strategy but continuously create new faces and new behaviours that are likely to reduce to the likelihood of others predicting their behaviour. This, in turn, enables them to avoid detection even in recurrent, lasting situations where Machiavellians seem familiar to others.