Machiavellianism in Japan

Abstract

Middle-class Japanese children whose willingness to cheat in a game had been observed at approximately four years of age were administered a version of a scale of Machiavellianism seven years later. Their parents filled out the same measure on both occasions. The relationship between parental Machiavellianism and the responses of the children differed markedly on the two occasions. At the earlier age, birth order and maternal Machiavellianism were crucial; specifically, maternal Machiavellianism was inversely related to the cheating behavior of the first-born and only children of both sexes but not to that of later-born children. At the later age a sex difference emerged; boys' Mach scores were unrelated to parental Machiavellianism while the scores of girls—first-born and later-born alike—were positively correlated with the scores of both parents. Interestingly, among both sexes, the sixth-graders' Mach scores were uncorrelated with their earlier cheating behavior. Developmental changes in Machiavellianism, sex differences, and belief-behavior congruency were discussed in light of the Japanese cultural context.