Master manipulators are Machiavellian personalities (“High Machs,” as explained in this post). They are scheming and deceitful by nature. If you are in a relationship with one, you will ride the roller coaster of love to Hell and back. Both your strengths and weaknesses will be used against you. You will be falsely accused. Your feelings of jealously will be stoked. You will be baited and manipulated. Intermittently you will be swept along in a torrent of flattery and passion. Finally, you will be blamed and called a fool for allowing these things to happen to you.
If you are (or suspect that you are) involved with a master manipulator, you’ll be interested in learning how Machiavellians view adult relationships (this determines their behavior). If you’ve avoided inviting a High Mach into your life, you may want to know how to recognize the warning signs. We all have attachment styles in how we make friends and form romantic relationships. If you’re not already familiar with attachment styles, you might like to see which best describes you. After explaining each of the them, I’ll conclude by discussing the attachment styles that are applicable to master manipulators.
The bond that we form as children with our parents strongly influences our behavior in adult relationships. It is through these early relationships that our sense of self begins to strengthen or weaken, and our coping behaviors begin to form in the direction of progression or regression. This is the essence of attachment theory, which encompasses four attachment styles:
