Machiavellianism, emotional intelligence and social competence: Are Machiavellians interpersonally skilled?

Machiavellians are usually associated with unusually high interpersonal skills which seem to be vital for effective manipulation of other people. However, the current research has not confirmed such an opinion. The aim of this study was to examine relations between Machiavellianism (Mach) and self-report emotional intelligence (EI as a trait), self-report social competences (SC) and recognizing emotions from facial expressions. Mach was negatively correlated with EI and SC overall result and with subscales of social competences in intimate situations (SC-I) and in situations requiring social exposure (SC-ES). There was no correlation between Mach and recognizing emotions and between Mach and social competences in situations requiring assertiveness (SC-A). Exploratory path analyses showed a direct negative association between Mach and EI, SC-I and SC-ES. Mach predicted indirectly (through mediation of EI) SC-I, SC-ES and SC-A.