Uncaring young adults show reduced vigilance for others' fearful expressions

Abstract

A core feature of psychopathy is the presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits, which are associated with deficient recognition of others' distress and aggression. Competing etiological theories suggest such traits stem from either a fearless temperament or anomalies in selective attention. While CU traits are multidimensional, the role of individual CU dimensions (callous, uncaring, unemotional) in selective attention to others' emotional expressions remains unexamined in adults. The present study thus examined whether CU traits predict reduced attention to fear and other (angry and happy) emotional expressions, and if so, whether this deficit reflects reduced vigilance or faster disengagement from such stimuli. Eighty two undergraduate students (ages 18–35, 56% female), completed a measure of CU traits and a probe discrimination task in which attention was measured by reaction times to probes appearing in locations previously occupied by either an emotional expression (fear, happy, or sad) or a neutral expression. In contrast to callousness or unemotional CU traits, uncaring traits were uniquely inversely associated with attention to fearful faces, specifically for reduced vigilance. Attention to angry or happy faces was unrelated to CU dimensions. Uncaring CU traits may reduce attending to others' fearful expressions, potentially impairing recognition of others' distress.