Psychopathy and the Regulation of Interpersonal Distance

Abstract

Psychopathic traits are often associated with interpersonal and affective deficits. This study examined the impact of psychopathy on judgments of comfortable egocentric interpersonal distance (Experiment 1) and exocentric interpersonal distance (Experiment 2). We selected a student sample and measured psychopathy via self-report. To study spatial behavior under highly controlled conditions, these participants were immersed in a virtual environment. In Experiment 1, they approached a virtual person with angry or happy facial expression until a comfortable distance for conversation was reached. In Experiment 2, participants adjusted a comfortable distance between two avatars. Our results suggest that psychopathy alters the regulation of interpersonal distance with respect to facial expression of the approached as well as between avatars of mixed sex.