@article{ref1,
title="Machiavellian males with high emotional intelligence exhibit fewer depressive symptoms",
journal="Personality and individual differences",
year="2020",
author="Bianchi, Renzo and Patthey, Nathan and Mirkovic, Danijela and Lemaitre, Bruno and Schlegel, Katja",
volume="158",
number="",
pages="e109867-e109867",
abstract="Research on the link between Machiavellianism and depression has yielded equivocal results. In this study, we examined the possible moderating role of ability emotional intelligence (a-EI) on the Machiavellianism-depression relationship. a-EI was approached as a factor influencing the effectiveness of Machiavellians' manipulative strategies. A total of 469 participants were recruited (34% male; mean age: 42.37). Machiavellian dispositions were assessed with the Machiavellianism subscale of the Dirty Dozen. a-EI was measured with the 10-scenario version of the Geneva EMOtion Knowledge-Blends--a performance-based test. Depressive symptoms were evaluated with the PHQ-9, a scale covering both cognitive-affective and somatic aspects of depression. Correlational analyses revealed no raw association between Machiavellianism, a-EI, and depression. In men, a-EI was found to moderate the effect of Machiavellianism on depression in such a way that Machiavellianism was protective against depressive symptoms when coupled with high a-EI. Component-level analyses indicated that the observed interaction was essentially underpinned by somatic depression. Machiavellianism predicted somatic depression negatively in males with high a-EI and positively in males with low a-EI. No association was identified in females. This study suggests that Machiavellianism is not depressogenic in itself. Remarkably, Machiavellianism might have antidepressant virtues in men exhibiting high a-EI.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0191-8869",
doi="10.1016/j.paid.2020.109867",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.109867"
}