Theory of Mind and Empathic Explanations of Machiavellianism

Abstract

We study theory of mind (ToM)

The neural basis of the Machiavellians’ decision making in fair and unfair situations

“…On the one hand, we have to take consider that both the present study and a former one did not find differences between HM and LM persons in the activities of brain areas, such as medial prefrontal cortex and temporo-parietal junction that have been reported as the main components of the theory of mind network (Legrand & Ruby, 2009). The activation of these areas was negatively correlated with Machiavellianism in another recent study that used ToM (mentalizing) stories and visual stimuli of various emotional states (Bagozzi et al, 2013). On the other hand, several recent studies have revealed, as mentioned before, that Machiavellians are very sensitive to the signals of social context and take the behavior of their partners into consideration to a greater extent when making a decision than did nonMachiavellians (Bereczkei & Czibor, 2014;Czibor & Bereczkei, 2012).…”

Business Ethics: The Promise of Neuroscience

“…Furthermore, the results of the study suggest that these brain regions, "emerged as potential nodes of a network common to moral cognition, ToM, and empathy" (Bzdok et al 2012, p. 789). In a study connecting neuroscience methods and the business ethics context, Bagozzi et al (2013) investigated the relation between ToM, empathy, and Machiavellianism, i.e., social conduct that aims to manipulate others for personal gain. As expected, brain regions associated with ToM were negatively correlated with Machiavellianism.…”

“…As expected, brain regions associated with ToM were negatively correlated with Machiavellianism. However, interestingly and perhaps counterintuitively, activation of brain regions connected to empathy indicated that Machiavellians were better able to detect the emotions of others, particularly negative affect, and might use this to facilitate manipulative acts (Bagozzi et al, 2013).…”

“…Within business organizations, leadership is especially relevant for the fair treatment of individuals, and neuroscience methods have recently been used to study the topic. Research to date has focused on individual characteristics of the leader and has investigated the neuroscience basis for complex leadership, i.e., leadership that can meet diverse role demands (Hannah et al, 2013), for inspirational leaders who espouse a high level of regard for others (Waldman et al, 2011) and the relation between empathy, perspective taking, and a Machiavellian leadership style (Bagozzi et al, 2013).…”

“…• ToM is a necessary precondition for ideal role-taking processes Bagozzi et al, 2013;Bzdok et al, 2012;Dimoka, 2012;Rilling et al, 2004b; …”