Emotional psychopaths? Differentiation of various emotional states experienced by psychopathic individuals

Abstract

Abstract The study examined experience of different forms of emotion by people exhibiting strong psychopathic traits and to compare them in this regard with non-psychopathic individuals. One hundred and twenty-six individuals took part in a computer experiment in which they were shown six excerpts from the film evoking various forms of emotions: (1) negative emotion, (2) positive emotion, (3) simultaneously mixed emotion, (4) sequentially mixed emotion (positive following negative), (5) secondary emotion mixed, (6) lack of emotion. Subsequently they reported (1) the intensity of the emotions experienced, (2) the tension and (3) ambivalence associated with them. The severity of psychopathic traits was measured using the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-III. Results revealed that people with stronger psychopathic traits experienced these particular forms of emotions in a different way to others. The differences are related to negative emotions and sequentially mixed emotions. Negative emotions were experienced by psychopathic people at greater intensity and, accompanied by greater tension. In addition, two aspects of psychopathy: criminal tendencies in its less severe form and interpersonal manipulation were shown to be moderators for these differences, confirming previous findings that psychological traits are the primary mechanisms of psychopathy, rather than antisocial behavior itself.