Abstract
Psychopathy is characterized by callous and unemotional personality traits, such as reduced empathy and remorse, and a tendency toward deviant interpersonal behaviors. It has been suggested that subtle behavioral cues in individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits may betray their personality during interpersonal interactions, but little research has addressed what these clues might be. In this study, we investigated whether psychopathic traits predict interpersonal distance preferences, which have been previously linked to amygdala functioning. 46 healthy participants performed a behavioral task in which the distance they preferred to maintain between themselves and an experimenter was measured across a series of trials. Psychopathic traits, including Coldheartedness, Fearless Dominance, and Self-centered Impulsivity were assessed using the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (Lilienfeld and Widows, 2005). Results demonstrated that Coldheartedness predicted preferred interpersonal distance, with more coldhearted participants preferring shorter distances. These findings suggest that interpersonal distance preferences may signal psychopathic traits, particularly callousness, supporting accounts of amygdala dysfunction in psychopathy.
Highlights
Psychopathy is a personality variable characterized by callous and unemotional personality traits, such as lack of empathy and guilt, and antisocial behavioral tendencies, such as impulsiveness and aggression (Frick and White, 2008; Feilhauer and Cima, 2013)
It was recently shown that a patient with selective bilateral amygdala lesions (SM) reported an abnormal lack of discomfort when standing very close to an experimenter and preferred interpersonal distances that were significantly shorter than the average preferred distance of controls (Kennedy et al, 2009)
This study investigated whether psychopathic traits influence the distance individuals prefer to maintain between themselves and others in social interactions
Summary
Psychopathy is a personality variable characterized by callous and unemotional personality traits, such as lack of empathy and guilt, and antisocial behavioral tendencies, such as impulsiveness and aggression (Frick and White, 2008; Feilhauer and Cima, 2013). FMRI results revealed that amygdala activity in healthy individuals was modulated by interpersonal distance, with activation increasing when subjects knew an experimenter was standing close to the scanner. This is consistent with research in animals showing that the amygdala is involved in regulating approach and avoidance behaviors, such that monkeys with selective amygdala lesions show reduced avoidance of novel or naturally threatening objects (Machado et al, 2009), other monkeys in dyadic interactions (Emery et al, 2001), and human strangers (Mason et al, 2006)
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