Machiavellianism and Elicitation of Self-Disclosure in a Competitive Friendship

Abstract

The present study investigated the influence of Machiavellianism and friendship competition on the elicitation of self-disclosure from others within friendship dyads. Male (N = 120) and female (N = 70) participants aged 17 to 60 years (M = 29.15, SD = 12.26) completed a questionnaire containing preliminary demographic questions, Mach IV Scale, Opener Scale and Interpersonal Competition Index. The regression analysis has revealed that Machiavellianism and friendship competition are reliable predictors of the ability to elicit self-disclosure from others, and these results coincide with those of correlation analysis. This study represents the very first attempt to investigate the Machiavellian personality correlates associated with the tendency to elicit self-disclosure from others, and its findings may help shed light upon the direction of future research.