The Fear Factor: Fear Deficits in Psychopathy as an Index of Limbic Dysregulation

Abstract

of a continuously-distributed personality trait (Edens et al., 2006). Although the clinical and theoretical importance of psychopathy is well-established, a number of issues regarding the construct, including the factors that predict and explain psychopathic symptomatology, are yet to be resolved (Edens et al., 2006). Psychopathic traits are highly compatible with risk-taking, antisocial behaviors. This association is reflected by the fact that, despite psychopathic individuals comprise less than 1% of the general population (Coid et al., 2009), approximately 10 to 25% of adult offenders can be classified as psychopaths (Serin et al., 2011). Offenders with psychopathic tendencies are often versatile in their offending, highly prolific, and have longer and more violent criminal careers compared to non-psychopathic offenders (Serin et al., 2011). Psychopathic tendencies are also positively correlated with sexual aggression (Porter et al., 2003), violent sexual offences (Brown and Forth, 1997), and sexual sadism (Knight and Guay, 2006), a paraphilia that includes sexual arousal to fantasies, urges, or acts of inflicting pain, suffering, or humiliation onto another person (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Yet, not all psychopaths are criminals as many psychopathic individuals are able to function in society without offending (Serin et al., 2011). Rates of psychopathy in corporate positions have been estimated to be five times higher than those of the general population (Babiak et al., 2010) but this might still reflect negative societal effects as is echoed by Hare’s sentiment that “[we] are more likely to lose our life savings to an oily tongued swindler than our lives to a steely-eyed killer” (Hare, 1993). This great negative influence that the psychopathic population exerts onto society has spurred interest in creating a transtheoretical model capable of explaining the deficits behind key traits that ordinarily buffer or moderate the antisocial or violent behaviors that characterize psychopathy (Serin et al., 2011). The Fear Factor: Fear Deficits in Psychopathy as an Index of Limbic Dysregulation