Abstract
Impaired emotional capacity in antisocial populations is a well-known reality. Taking the dimensional approach to the study of emotion, emotions are perceived as a disposition to action; they emerge from arousal of the appetitive or aversive system, and result in subjective, behavioral, and physiological responses that are modulated by the dimensions of valence, arousal, and dominance. This study uses the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) to study the interaction between the type of picture presented (pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant) and group (adolescents under custody in juvenile justice centers, adolescents under non-custodial measures, and secondary school students) in the emotional assessment of these dimensions. The interaction between the study variables was statistically significant. Statistically significant differences were found between the three types of pictures presented, in the ratings of unpleasant pictures between the custody group and the group of secondary students in regular schooling in valence, and in the ratings of unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant pictures in arousal, between the custody group and all groups. Discriminant analyses of each affective dimension indicate that the unpleasant pictures with violent and/or aggressive content tend to be in the functions that most differentiate the antisocial groups.
Highlights
Scientific evidence agrees in pointing to impaired emotional capacities as a fundamental characteristic of habitual offenders or people who tend toward antisocial behavior (e.g., Farrington, 1989; Muñoz-García et al, 2003; Garaigordobil et al, 2004; Alcázar-Córcoles et al, 2010)
The sample was composed of 160 youths divided into three groups according to the degree of antisocial behavior they presented: two antisocial groups, one with youths in custody with judicial sanctions (n = 59; 66.1% male) and other, youths subject to non-custodial measures with judicial sanctions (n = 40; 72% male), and a comparison group of secondary students in normal schooling (n = 61; 68.9% male)
The results indicated a statistically significant effect of the group × picture interaction { Wilks = 0.79, [F(12,304) = 3.13], p < 0.001, η2p = 0.11}, indicating significant differences in the three dimensions of emotion taken together across types of pictures, because of the specific group
Summary
Scientific evidence agrees in pointing to impaired emotional capacities as a fundamental characteristic of habitual offenders or people who tend toward antisocial behavior (e.g., Farrington, 1989; Muñoz-García et al, 2003; Garaigordobil et al, 2004; Alcázar-Córcoles et al, 2010). In turn, is related to higher cognitive capacities or hot executive functions. The executive processes and cortical networks associated with EF functioning suggest the existence of two differentiated circuits: the executive control circuit (dorso-lateral), involved in cold, more cognitive EFs, and the socio-emotional circuit (orbito-frontal and ventro-medial), involved in hot processes related to behavioral and emotional control (Zelazo et al, 2004; Zelazo, 2020). Incorporating this assumption, Emotional Assessment and Antisocial Behavior
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