The Relationship between Empathic Deficits and Risk of Antisocial Personality Disorder

Abstract

Individuals with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) account for 2-3% of the overall population, jeopardizing society by violating the laws, mistreating others with disregard, and even more severe attacks. Though with abundant research investigating the etiology of ASPD, empathy, as a critical feature of people with ASPD, has been neglected. Empathy, broadly referring to the ability to perceive others’ feelings and thoughts, plays a vital role in social interactions. Lack of empathy might lead to less prosocial functions and reinforce antisocial behaviors. Hence, the present review sorted the previous studies regarding the relationship between empathetic traits and the development of antisocial personality disorder from the aspects of different dimensions of empathy, direct causation, and neural activity. In general, one dimension of empathy—empathetic concern was found related to the formation of ASPD. Prosociality and parental behaviors are indirectly related to ASPD by affecting empathetic abilities. Innate empathy deficit in toddlerhood also accounts for the ASPD. From the neural aspect, activities in the amygdala, anterior insula, and connectivity between the bilateral amygdala and PCC and precuneus are found to correlate with ASPD while processing emotional cues. Though the relationship between empathy and ASPD is determined, future investigation should focus on other empathy dimensions, detailed findings for different levels of CU traits, and better reliability through assessment. In general, this review might contribute to the prevention and intervention of ASPD by attaching more importance to empathetic traits and parental guidance.