Influence of Childhood Maltreatment on Machiavellianism

ABSTRACT

Machiavellianism is characterized by manipulative behavior, lack of empathy, and a willingness to deceive and exploit others for personal gain. Research indicates that one factor that may increase the likelihood and severity of Machiavellianism in adulthood is maltreatment in childhood. However, few studies have attempted to untangle which specific instantiations of childhood maltreatment (e.g. abuse vs. neglect) are most associated with Machiavellianism. In our study, we investigate the association between childhood abuse and neglect on Machiavellianism in a sample of adult women and men recruited online (N = 278) using a Bayesian approach to multiple regression. Results suggest that higher levels of Machiavellianism are associated with physical neglect, with some influence of other forms of maltreatment depending on gender. These findings shed light on potential etiological influences on Machiavellianism and have implications for research on and clinical intervention with people with high levels of this trait.

KEYWORDS:

• Childhood abuse
• childhood neglect
• Machiavellianism
• personality pathology
• trauma

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Palo Alto University (PAU) Institutional Review Board (IRB) and research committee. The study was approved by the IRB of PAU. Approval was granted on February 3, 2023. The reference number for the approval is FWA00010885.

PAU IRB, (650) 433–3870, [email protected], 1791 Arastradero Rd Palo Alto CA 94,304.