Personality correlates of Machiavellianism: I. Consensual validation

Compared to control group data obtained under standard instructions, participants asked to fake their replies to the Howarth Personality Questionnaire in the way they felt a Machiavellian (i.e., socially manipulative) individual would honestly respond scored significantly higher on ascendance-dominance, trust vs. suspicion, and impulsiveness, and significantly lower on superego, inferiority, and cooperativeness-considerateness. Preliminary analysis suggests that these traits are congruent with the personality characteristics of authentic high Machs.