Is the Psychopath ‘morally insane’?

Physiologically-Indexed and Self-Perceived Affective Empathy in Conduct-Disordered Children High and Low on Callous-Unemotional Traits

“…Present findings, considered together with research on emotion processing that has shown decreased orienting to negative emotional stimuli in CD/CU children, and increased orienting to negative emotional stimuli in CD-only children [37,38], suggest substantial differences in emotion related processing and responsiveness (particularly of negative emotions and perhaps differentiated patterns across different negative emotions) across CD/CU and CD-only subgroups that warrant further detailed investigation. Present physiological data for CD/CU children support theories linking failure to inhibit antisocial conduct to an early dysfunction in the capacity for vicarious affective arousal, as proposed by Hoffman [6], and a consequent failure to develop a 'Violence Inhibition Mechanism', as proposed by Blair [58]. Such a mechanism, when activated by distress cues, initiates a withdrawal or behavior inhibition response in the typically developing child, which is reinforcing, because it lessens negative vicarious arousal [5].…”

“…For instance, CD/CU children have shown a preference for thrill and adventure seeking activities, which may be indicative of stimulation seeking and/or a lack of fearful inhibition [40,41]. This evidence might also be used in support of Hoffman's [6] or Blair's [58] model, because CD/CU children have also shown diminished sensitivity to punishment cues [42] and lower anxiety levels [62].…”

“…Aggression may be a form of stimulation-seeking (stimulation-seeking theory) by hypoaroused individuals, who experience no aversive arousal during aggression to inhibit the behaviour early in development (Hoffman's model) [6], and without the assistance of autonomic conditioning, will remain handicapped in inhibiting antisocial conduct (Blair's model) [58].…”

Neuroticism and psychopathy predict brain activation during moral and nonmoral emotion regulation

“…We were interested in exploring the association between psychopathic traits and emotional responses to unpleasant pictures depicting moral violations. Prior research has shown that psychopaths are more likely than nonpsychopaths to intentionally commit moral violations, such as stealing and violence against others, and to show a lack of remorse for such actions (Blair, 1997;Blair, Jones, Clark, & Smith, 1995;Blair, Sellars, Strickland, & Clark, 1995;Hare, 1998). Psychopathic individuals have also been shown to lack a sophisticated understanding of the distinction between moral and conventional transgressions (Blair, Jones, et al, 1995;Nucci & Herman, 1982), suggesting a cognitive deficit that may contribute to immoral behavior.…”

Oxytocin, Empathy and Human Enhancement

“…Thanks to the capacity of empathy, we begin to understand that only the moral ones can be justified emotionally because only they protect others from what we assume they do not want, for example to suffer. Psychopaths, by contrast, lacking this capacity, are incapable of distinguishing moral rules from conventional ones (Blair 1999;Blair et al 1995). 3 A more complex case is autistic individuals, who for some authors could be an example of individuals who appear to acquire a comprehension of moral rules despite exhibiting a deficit of empathy (Nichols 2004;McGeer 2007;Prinz 2011b).…”