Is the psychopathic heart beating for fear? A psychophysiological investigation of fear experience in psychopathy

The Fear Enjoyment Hypothesis posits that individuals with elevated psychopathy traits experience fear-inducing stimuli less negatively and more positively than others. Building on prior findings that fear enjoyment primarily relates to the core affective–interpersonal dimension of psychopathy, the present study investigated the link between core psychopathy traits and both self-reported and physiological responses to fear-inducing stimuli. Participants ( N = 119; 68.9% female; M age = 35.04 years) prescreened for psychopathy and fear enjoyment completed self-report measures and viewed fear-inducing, excitement-inducing, and neutral first-person videos in a controlled laboratory setting while heart rate was recorded. They provided appraisal ratings for each video and descriptions of their fear experience. Analyses included linear mixed models, repeated measures ANOVA, correlation and regression analyses. Higher core psychopathy trait levels were associated with less negative and more positive evaluations of fear-inducing clips, greater use of positive fear descriptors, and increased heart rate during fear exposure. Higher heart rate predicted positive appraisals of fear videos in individuals with high levels of primary psychopathy but predicted negative appraisals of fear videos in low-psychopathic individuals. The findings provide preliminary support for the assumption that individuals high in core psychopathy traits may interpret arousal in fear-evoking situations more joyful than other persons, in line with the Fear Enjoyment Hypothesis. • Evidence supports the Fear Enjoyment Hypothesis in psychopathic individuals • Results nuance low-fear models by highlighting atypical fear-related engagement • Core psychopathy traits were linked to heightened physiological fear responses • Core psychopathy traits were linked to more positive and less negative fear appraisal