Conference Agenda

Background: Intellectual humility (IH) involves the awareness of one’s intellectual fallibility and openness to revising viewpoints. While personality traits like Machiavellianism are known to negatively predict IH, less is known about the psychological resources that can buffer this effect. This study investigates the role of dialogical flexibility (DF) — the ability to shift between I-positions and constructively transform internal dialogues — as a potential moderator in this relationship.

Method: The study was conducted on a diverse sample of N=619 adults (M=41.2; SD=11.22; 51% female) recruited via the Ariadna platform. Participants completed the Dialogical Flexibility Scale (DFS), the General Intellectual Humility Scale (GIHS), and the Two-Dimensional Machiavellianism Scale (TDMS).

Results: Consistent with expectations, Machiavellianism (both in terms of views and tactics) was a significant negative predictor of intellectual humility. However, moderation analysis revealed that dialogical flexibility significantly buffers this relationship. For individuals with high DF, the negative impact of Machiavellian tendencies on IH was significantly diminished compared to those with low DF.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that the mere presence of internal dialogues is insufficient for intellectual growth; rather, it is the quality and flexibility of these dialogues that support IH. Dialogical flexibility serves as a protective resource, making the dialogical mind more resilient to manipulative tendencies and more open to epistemic revision. These results offer a new perspective on the Dark Triad and internal dialogical activity by highlighting DF as a potential target for interventions aimed at fostering humility and protecting against manipulation.