ABSTRACT
With the resulting phenotypic profile, this chapter explores the manifestations and dynamics of manipulative behavior at the group level as well. Indeed, analyzing the societal level, sociocultural and sociopolitical manifestations of a multifaceted and multilevel concept such as manipulativeness is a task for which people lack disciplinary guidance in key respects. In considering the possible macro-societal manifestations of aspects of our phenotype’s behavior there are two possible categories of manifestation that bear noting. Indeed, government policies in such an environment may increasingly need to be portrayed on this dimension both for the leaders who find themselves rapidly losing their sense of proportion and for a public conditioned and actively disposed to be aroused this way. Commonalities between the themes that appear to underlie gravitation to the expert mantle and themes underlying our phenotype are striking. The instrumental imperative or instrumental orientation in social encounter is also central to the Machiavellian construct.
