Machiavellianism?

Hi everyone I'm new to this forum.

I had a question nagging my mind regarding Machiavellianism as it relates to the Dark Triad. I did a Dark Triad test a while back and it turned out I had normal levels of narcissism, high levels of machiavellianism and moderate levels of psychopathy. How different is machiavellianism from narcissism and why does is it not correlate to any of the known personality disorders like NPD, BPD or ASPD?

Also, slightly off topic but does anyone know what moderate psychopathy means in real terms? Does it mean sociopathy and did I make a mistake in answering the questions? Wouldn't someone who is psychopathic be inherently narcissistic as well?

Thanks

KenSurvivorofHell wrote:Hi everyone I'm new to this forum.

I had a question nagging my mind regarding Machiavellianism as it relates to the Dark Triad. I did a Dark Triad test a while back and it turned out I had normal levels of narcissism, high levels of machiavellianism and moderate levels of psychopathy. How different is machiavellianism from narcissism and why does is it not correlate to any of the known personality disorders like NPD, BPD or ASPD?

Also, slightly off topic but does anyone know what moderate psychopathy means in real terms? Does it mean sociopathy and did I make a mistake in answering the questions? Wouldn't someone who is psychopathic be inherently narcissistic as well?

Thanks

Not sure on the machiavellian - I would assume by definition it has to do with playing the long game and being cunning, Niccolo Machiavelli professed the good statesman to being capable of using both a mixture of cunning acts with also a node of justice in order to gain power. Not sure how that translates to everyday behavior.

As far as that last part, I would say it´s possible to be less narcissistic if that person has low-self esteem in some wider sense for their facade to seem less-so. Anyone as a covert/vulnerable subtype would abhor the extra attention gained from being too eagerly narcissistic so they might not flaunt it.

KenSurvivorofHell wrote:Hi everyone I'm new to this forum.

I had a question nagging my mind regarding Machiavellianism as it relates to the Dark Triad. I did a Dark Triad test a while back and it turned out I had normal levels of narcissism, high levels of machiavellianism and moderate levels of psychopathy. How different is machiavellianism from narcissism and why does is it not correlate to any of the known personality disorders like NPD, BPD or ASPD?

I would be surprised if it doesnt relate to ASPD, cause thats kind of a central aspect of ASPD.
Narcissism is a bit of a problem, since it has different meanings depending on context and school of thought its used by. So it can mean self-love, or something that pertains to self-esteem modulation or in contexts like narcissistic withdrawal it can mean withdrawal into the self or into fantasy. NPD also is a different thing and is based on the DSM definition and the discussions underlying that whatever they are. In that context the simplest answer would be manipulativeness etc are not part of the diagnostic criteria of NPD or BPD.

Also, slightly off topic but does anyone know what moderate psychopathy means in real terms? Does it mean sociopathy and did I make a mistake in answering the questions? Wouldn't someone who is psychopathic be inherently narcissistic as well?

Thanks

Psychopathic and sociopathic arent clearly defined terms and there, too, it depends who uses them. Someone like psychoanalytical therapist and theoriest Otto Kernberg has seen ASPD and NPD as a spectrum f.e. based on comparable faults in the super-ego and other structurs of the psycho on different levels and degrees. But that isnt widely followed.

Thanks for both of your inputs.

So Akuma you see Machiavellianism more close to ASPD eh? I personally thought it was a separate personality trait in the Dark Triad. Perhaps there is a specific reason why its not listed as a personality disorder on the DSM.

KenSurvivorofHell wrote:So Akuma you see Machiavellianism more close to ASPD eh? I personally thought it was a separate personality trait in the Dark Triad. Perhaps there is a specific reason why its not listed as a personality disorder on the DSM.

You might find this interesting ->

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog ... dark-triad

Very good article. I would agree with the analysis presented. Seems machiavellianism is similar to psychopathy in many respects.