Psychopaths feel fear but do not recognise danger, study finds
Researchers claim those within the category are likely to have impairments in experiencing happiness and anger
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Psychopaths do feel fear but do not recognise danger, according to new research.
Researchers from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Radboud University Nijmegen found psychopaths have trouble detecting and responding to threats.
The team examined early works, dating back as far as 1806 and created a model that separated the brain mechanisms involved in responding to threats and experiencing fear.
“We show there is evidence that psychopathic individuals have deficits in threat detection and responsivity, but that the evidence for reduced subjective experience of fear in psychopathy is far less compelling,” the authors of the paper said.
The paper defines psychopathy as a personality disorder that is characterised by interpersonal manipulation, impulsive antisocial behaviour and recklessness.
Additional analysis carried out by the researchers found psychopaths were also likely to also have impairments in experiencing happiness and anger.
Authors of the study say the model used in the analysis can also be applied to work on mood and anxiety disorders.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments