Narcissism vs. Machiavellianism: What’s the Difference?

How to tell one dark triad trait from another

Photo by Andre Benz on Unsplash

Narcissism and Machiavellianism make up two thirds of the “dark triad”, the final part being psychopathy.

The dark triad subclinical traits involve toxic behaviours which you may be familiar with: Using specific strategies to achieve selfish goals; dishonest social tactics and manipulation for personal gain.

But while discussions of narcissism are popular these days and the dark triad traits are often discussed together, in practice it can be tricky to discern between Machiavellianism and narcissism.

There is a significant amount of literature, especially with narcissism which involves several types of narcissists (a topic for another time). I’m going to try and keep it simple here. What is a narcissist, what is a Machiavellian, and what’s the difference?

The origins of narcissism

Narcissism was named after the mythological Narcissus, a Greek son of a river god and nymph.

In the story, a nymph fell in love with Narcissus. When she realised her proclamations of love fell on deaf, unrequited ears, she was devastated. So, the Goddess of Revenge decided to do her thing and teach our mate Narcissus a lesson. She…