It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver: Machiavellianism is associated with producing but not necessarily with falling for bullshit.

Abstract

Machiavellianism is a personality trait emphasizing fraud at others' expense. It is yet unclear whether Machiavellianism is also predictive of less obvious deception, for example inaccurate or meaningless information supposed to gain advantages and to avoid disadvantages (i.e., bullshit). Similarly, it is unclear whether those high in Machiavellianism can recognize bullshit claims and valuable information as such (i.e., bullshit sensitivity). In this study, we investigated whether different facets of Machiavellianism are prone to the production of different sorts of bullshit and how these facets of Machiavellianism relate to bullshit sensitivity. In a sample of 525 participants (72% women), we found that the manipulative side of Machiavellianism (Machiavellian approach) was linked to persuasive bullshitting, that is, the production of bullshit intended to gain desired resources. Likewise, the distrustful side of Machiavellianism (Machiavellian avoidance) went along with higher evasive bullshitting, which means spreading information that ought to prevent individual disadvantages. Next, we found that those high in Machiavellian avoidance, but not Machiavellian approach, were better at differentiating information from bullshit. These links were robust irrespective of different levels of cognitive ability. Ultimately, we discussed future directions for research on bullshitting and disseminating deceptive information in general.