Years back when I was younger, after getting out of the seminary, I found myself freshly having a job and introduced to the secular world of work politics or mores.
Having spent some uninterrupted 11 years of seminary formation, steeped in “doing good and avoiding the bad” and advocating the “man for others” ethos, I was – honestly speaking – so aghast during my first few months at work by the somehow Machiavellian atmosphere and scheming ways displayed by some co-workers in the rat race of climbing the corporate ladder.
As it were, my first impression of the secular workplace is kind of “survival of the fittest” and that I found myself in a swaying pendulum of either quitting or toeing the line.
Virtue and Morality
Reckoning so, for the past years of my working life, having strayed through innumerable kinds of jobs and hopping from one employment to another, I can’t avoid observing an encompassing work attitude or personality among many employees, either just starting or having gone through the corporate ladder: being scheming, manipulative, or “Machiavellian”.
Machiavellian personalities are apt to manipulate others to get what they want. In the 16th century, Italian Renaissance political philosopher and statesman, Niccolo Machiavelli wrote his famous work, “The Prince”, a manifesto of sorts that emphasized deception, wickedness, and cunning as being more important to politics than virtue and morality. “It is more important to be feared than loved,” he wrote.
Thence, the word “Machiavellian” was born, which describes anyone who’s scheming, unscrupulous, or cunning. In 1970, psychologists Richard Christie and Florence Geiss identified Machiavellianism as a personality trait involving manipulativeness, deceit, and a cold, calculating, cynical view of others.
Manipulative and Strategic
According to clinical psychologist Aimee Daramus, a Machiavellian personality is manipulative and strategic. “When they have a goal, they think through how to achieve it very skillfully, but without any consideration for the feelings of other people involved. They often come off as unemotional.”
Machiavellianism is part of what psychologists call the “dark triad” of personality, which consist of: Machiavellian, Narcissist, and Psychopath.
Now, lest you think that Machiavellian personalities are smarter than others – they’re not. A study published by a team of psychologists at the University of Alabama refutes such notion.
“The Machiavellian individual is presumed to be a master social strategist,” the authors of the research, led by William Haart, said. “However, research has generally failed to support this assumption. Surprisingly, Machiavellians tend to under-perform on various social-cognitive tasks that entail intuiting other’s internal states such as a person’s intentions or emotions.”
The researchers offer a scientific explanation of why Machiavellian personality types can be simultaneously more clever and more obtuse than their non-Machiavellian counterparts: their social-cognitive skills benefit from their careful, detail-oriented processing style but suffer from their callous, selfish, and immodest tendencies.
Even more – far from being smarter, more successful, or happier that you might think they are – Machiavellians’ scheming traits pose as antithetical to positive relationships, success, and lasting happiness.
The Downside
Psychologists identify the following downside, if not egregious, traits of Machiavellian personalities (“All About Machiavellianism,” Simone Marie, psychcentral.com ), to wit:
1. Shallow emotional experience. Someone with a Machiavellian personality will have a cold, calculating, and cynical view of others. As a result, they tend to have a shallow emotional experience. They might be capable of some emotional attachments, but these relationships would be dysfunctional and often abusive.
2. Void of empathy. They generally feel little to no empathy for others and pay little attention to how their actions might impact others. Sometimes, this makes them appear like they have no morals.
3. Obsession with personal power. What matters most to someone with a Machiavellian personality is their fulfillment, whether that’s power, praise, or another form of glory. They are often willing to do anything to get what they need, without caring about morals, rules, or hurt feelings.
4. Inconsistent success in manipulating others. Some Machiavellian personalities are smart, some are not. The successful ones will climb the corporate ladder, while the unsuccessful ones will land in jail or an early grave. “If you’re so Machiavellian that you have no close relationships, you’ve got no one to help when you need it,” says psychologist Daramus.
5. Thinking and not doing. Some Machiavellian personalities are not successful because they spend too much time thinking or plotting, and not enough time doing things to get where they want.
So? Are we yet covetous of peers with Machiavellian personality? In profound reckoning, not at all. They’re not worthy of emulation.
After all, their scheming and manipulative ways are but contrary to our human fundamental vocation to “love”. And, loving is not “using”, but unconditionally giving of ourself – no if’s, no but’s, sinner or saint alike.
Besides, finally, we can only hark to the golden rule: “Do not do unto others what you don’t want others do unto you” or “You reap what you sow.” No arguing so, Machiavellians reap what they sow.
#InspiredAndBlessed #BobAcebedo #MachiavellianPersonalies #Machiavellian #OpinYonColumn #OpinYon