A dark side of the human mind: Affective dysfunction as a function of psychopathy

Abstract

This review summarizes empirical findings that have shown affective deficits of psychopathy. Previous studies have accounted for a failure of moral socialization in individuals with psychopathy in terms of low levels of fearfulness and empathy that may lead to an attenuated ability to inhibit deviant behaviors in response to punishments and distress cues from others. Both low-fear and low-empathy hypotheses have implied that a neural basis of psychopathy is a dysfunction of amygdala, a brain region of the center in affective processing. However, the affective dysfunction of psychopathy can also be associated with adaptive behaviors to maximize gains and minimize losses in some situations. Hence, we propose that psychopathy is one side of humans to shape a selfish strategy if necessary.