Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis

The term "Machiavellian intelligence" originates from the primatologist Frans de Waal, who noted that the behaviors of primates was so elaborate that it could perhaps be compared to political behavior today.Chimpanzee Politics, pg 4

Primatologists Nicholas Humphrey, Andrew Whiten and Richard Byrne were instrumental in developing this theory.{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000139 | doi=10.1037/com0000139 | title=Machiavellian intelligence retrospective | date=2018 | last1=Byrne | first1=Richard W. | journal=Journal of Comparative Psychology | volume=132 | issue=4 | pages=432–436 | pmid=30451526 | hdl=10023/16539 | hdl-access=free }} Humphrey, N. [https://books.google.com/books?id=xIg8AAAAIAAJ&dq=nicholas+humphrey+&pg=PA303 The social function of the intellect]Whiten, A., & Byrne, R. W. (Eds.). (1997). Machiavellian intelligence II: Extensions and evaluations (Vol. 2). Cambridge University Press. Byrne and Whiten edited two volumes that compiled interdisciplinary research exploring the theme, Machiavellian Intelligence: Social Expertise and the Evolution of Intellect in Monkeys, Apes, and Humans (Oxford University Press, 1988) and Machiavellian Intelligence II: Extensions and Evaluations (Cambridge University Press, 1997). They observed that primates, particularly great apes, displayed intricate social behaviors such as alliance formation, deception, and reconciliation. These behaviors seemed to require cognitive abilities beyond what was necessary for basic survival tasks like foraging or avoiding predators.

As a concept, it is also conflated with, and mistaken for the Machiavellianism personality construct, which focuses on the affective-interpersonal traits of human beings, such as unemotionality and exploitativeness, while Machiavellian Intelligence deals with the social behaviors of primates and is not focused on immoral actions."MI should therefore not be conflated – though it sometimes has been – with the human personality trait of “Machiavellianism” (Christie and Geis 1970) which refers specifically to an ability to detach from conventional morality and emotionality in order better to deceive and manipulate other people. MI is not about morality, and not restricted to “nasty” actions."

Byrne, R.W. (2022). Machiavellian Intelligence. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55065-7_781

In Chimpanzee Politics, de Waal describes the various social behaviors among chimpanzees, focusing specifically on interactions such as coat hair grooming. The first section explains the "submissive greeting," where a more submissive chimpanzee acknowledges a dominant one through pant-grunting, bobbing, or bringing objects like leaves or sticks. Dominant chimps respond by making themselves appear larger, while the submissive one may crouch or present their backside for inspection. Among adult males, dominance can be further exaggerated by actions like stepping over the subordinate, reinforcing social rank through physical gestures.Chimpanzee Politics, p 7

Another part of the book highlights grooming as the most frequent social activity in the Arnhem colony. Chimpanzees gather in grooming clusters, carefully attending to each other's hair while making soft sounds. This behavior strengthens social bonds and demonstrates their enjoyment of being groomed. Meanwhile, young chimpanzees, especially those slightly older, engage in energetic play, sometimes disrupting grooming groups by running through them or throwing sand, showing the coexistence of structured social order and youthful exuberance within the chimpanzee community.Chimpanzee Politics, pg. 77-78

Chimpanzees try to detect early signs of hostility to avoid conflict. Female aggression is described as sudden and unpredictable, while male aggression builds up gradually through body swaying, raised hackles, increased vocalizations, and ultimately an attack.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PaTkhYwi5bwC&dq=chimpanzee%20politics&pg=PA79 | title=Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex Among Apes | isbn=978-0-8018-6336-3 | last1=Waal | first1=Frans B. M. | date=10 April 2000 | publisher=JHU Press }}

Researchers Shirley C. Strum, Deborah Forster and Edwin Hutchins state that "We suggest that Machiavellian intelligence may be a misnomer." and that "primate social complexity appears to be an intricate tapestry of competition and cooperation, of aggression and reconciliation, of nonaggressive social alternatives, and of behaviors and relationships that cannot be easily categorized into simple opposites."{{Citation |last1=Strum |first1=Shirley C. |title=Why Machiavellian intelligence may not be Machiavellian |date=1997 |work=Machiavellian Intelligence II: Extensions and Evaluations |pages=50–85 |editor-last=Whiten |editor-first=Andrew |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/machiavellian-intelligence-ii/why-machiavellian-intelligence-may-not-be-machiavellian/0C0548347B1B1B309CBEB5639D303D51 |access-date=2025-03-29 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-55087-1 |last2=Forster |first2=Deborah |last3=Hutchins |first3=Edwin |editor2-last=Byrne |editor2-first=Richard W.}} Critics also cite that the "exceptions" in the form of small-brained primates in very large groups typically eat abundant but nutrient-poor foods (such as geladas that eat grass), as predicted by the food-based model, and argue that the higher individual need for nutrients put on by large brains causes groups to become smaller if the species have the same degree of digestive specialisation and environmental availability of food.{{cite journal |last1=DeCasien |first1=Alex R. |last2=Williams |first2=Scott A. |last3=Higham |first3=James P. |title=Primate brain size is predicted by diet but not sociality |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |date=27 March 2017 |volume=1 |issue=5 |pages=112 |doi=10.1038/s41559-017-0112 |pmid=28812699 |bibcode=2017NatEE...1..112D |s2cid=205564046 }}{{cite journal |last1=Venditti |first1=Chris |title=Evolution: Eating away at the social brain |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |date=27 March 2017 |volume=1 |issue=5 |page=122 |doi=10.1038/s41559-017-0122 |pmid=28812702 |bibcode=2017NatEE...1..122V |s2cid=7207012 }}

• Primate cognition
• Primate evolution
• Intelligence

{{Reflist}}

• Byrne, R. W., & Whiten, A. (1988). Machiavellian intelligence. Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Humphrey, N. K. (1976). [http://www.humphrey.org.uk/papers/1976SocialFunction.pdf The social function of the intellect]. In P. P. G. Bateson & R. A. Hinde (eds.). Growing points in ethology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• Maestripieri, Dario. (2007) Macachiavellian Intelligence: How Rhesus Macaques and Humans Have Conquered the World. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press

Category:Cognitive science

Category:Ethology

Category:Primatology

Category:Primate behavior