Atanassova Dimana V, Brazil Inti A, Tomassen Christiaan E A, Oosterman Joukje M
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University, Thomas Van Aquinostraat 4, 6525, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Forensic Psychiatric Centre Pompestichting, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 29;15(1):3729. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-87892-x.
Psychopathic traits and antisocial behavior show a well-documented relationship with decreased empathic processing. It has been proposed that a reduced own experience of pain leads to perceiving others' pain as less severe, which potentially facilitates exploitative, aggressive behavior towards others. We evaluated the link between psychopathic traits, experimental pain sensitivity and empathy for pain in a community sample (n = 74). Participants rated images depicting painful situations through either a self-centered or other-oriented perspective. Psychopathic traits (Interpersonal, Affective, Lifestyle and Antisocial) were assessed with the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, and pain threshold (cold, electrical, pressure) and tolerance (cold, electrical) were measured. A Bayesian Structural Equation Modelling approach indicated that self-centered pain estimates and sensitivity to electrical pain predicted judgments of others' pain ('pain empathy'). The superordinate psychopathy factor, encompassing the overlap in underlying features of the construct, was shown to indirectly affect pain empathy through the mediating role of electrical pain sensitivity. These results provide support for the notion that a reduced sensitivity to own pain underlies diminished pain empathy, and may hold important implications for understanding the mechanisms of antisocial behavior in psychopathy.
精神病态特质和反社会行为与共情加工减少之间的关系已有充分记录。有人提出，自身疼痛体验的减少会导致将他人的疼痛感知为不那么严重，这可能会助长对他人的剥削性、攻击性行为。我们在一个社区样本（n = 74）中评估了精神病态特质、实验性疼痛敏感性和疼痛共情之间的联系。参与者通过以自我为中心或他人为导向的视角对描绘疼痛情境的图片进行评分。使用自陈式精神病态量表评估精神病态特质（人际、情感、生活方式和反社会），并测量疼痛阈值（冷、电、压力）和耐受性（冷、电）。贝叶斯结构方程建模方法表明，以自我为中心的疼痛估计和对电疼痛的敏感性预测了对他人疼痛的判断（“疼痛共情”）。包含该结构潜在特征重叠的上级精神病态因素通过电疼痛敏感性的中介作用间接影响疼痛共情。这些结果为以下观点提供了支持，即对自身疼痛的敏感性降低是疼痛共情减少的基础，并且可能对理解精神病态中反社会行为的机制具有重要意义。
