"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