Department of Psychology, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2E9, Canada.
Sci Rep. 2023 Aug 30;13(1):14216. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-41043-2.
Two studies examined the amplitude of the startle response as a function of the Dark Tetrad of personality (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism). We measured electromyographic activity of the orbicularis oculi muscle evoked by a startle stimulus while participants viewed images on a computer screen. Both studies revealed a negative correlation between general startle reactivity (averaged across positive, negative, and neutral images) and sadistic tendencies. In Study 2, all four dark traits were negative correlates of general startle reactivity. Study 2 also examined the personality correlates of aversive startle potentiation (ASP; indexed by greater reactivity while viewing negatively-valenced images than positive or neutral images). ASP correlated negatively with a variety of personality measures of psychopathy and sadism, their facets, and related personality tendencies (callousness, risk-taking, and restricted affect). These findings suggest that ordinary people with high levels of callousness and antagonism display physiological evidence of non-reactivity (i.e., blunted acoustic startle in general), whereas psychopathy and sadism are preferentially associated with reduced ASP.
两项研究考察了惊跳反应的幅度作为人格的黑暗四分体（自恋、马基雅维利主义、精神病态和虐待狂）的函数。我们测量了参与者在计算机屏幕上观看图像时，由惊跳刺激引起的眼轮匝肌的肌电图活动。这两项研究都表明，一般惊跳反应（对正性、负性和中性图像的平均反应）与虐待倾向呈负相关。在研究 2 中，所有四种黑暗特质都与一般惊跳反应呈负相关。研究 2 还考察了厌恶惊跳增强（ASP；通过观看负性图像时比正性或中性图像时更大的反应来衡量）的人格相关性。ASP 与各种精神病态和虐待狂的人格测量、其方面以及相关人格倾向（冷漠、冒险和受限情感）呈负相关。这些发现表明，具有高水平冷漠和敌对性的普通人表现出非反应性的生理证据（即一般的听觉惊跳反应迟钝），而精神病态和虐待狂则与降低的 ASP 更相关。
