Influence of psychpathic personality traits on anxiety in a mixed reality Study
Related Research units
Abstract
Acrophobia Questionnaire (AQ), and the Brief Questionnaire of Psychopathic Personality Traits. The included subjects were tested on the human elevated plus-maze, which consists of a physical life-sized wooden platform and its representation in a virtual environment. Data recording was performed via the virtual reality tracking system using the following parameters: total time spent on open arms (time on open arms), number of entries to open arms, latency for the first entry of an open arm (latency 1st visit) and time until subjects reach the end of an open arm (latency endexploration). Statistical analyses were carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0 and R software (R version 4.0.2). Pearson correlation was performed to assess associations between psychopathic traits and measures of anxiety-related constructs. Results: Reduced levels of anxiety were associated with higher psychopathic traits. This was reflected in a correlation between the PPT sum score and all measures of anxiety-like behavior on the EPM (time on open arms: R = .29, p < 0.001; number of entries to open arms: R = .32, p < 0.001; latency 1st visit: R = -.29, p < 0.001; latency endexploration: R = -.30, p < 0.001). Psychopathic traits were also negatively correlated with subjective levels of anxiety on the EPM (R = - .23, p = 0.004). Sensation seeking (SSSV) (R =.33, p < 0.001) but not general levels of acrophobia (ACQ) (R = -.13, p = 0.11) were moreover associated with psychopathic personality traits. Conclusions: In light of the ongoing discussion, our results demonstrate a correlation between psychopathic personality traits and anxiety-related behavior in a non-clinical sample. This supports the theory of a lack of fear in psychopathy and may influence risky and potentially harmful behavior in this population.
Bibliographical data
Translated title of the contribution | Einfluß psychopathischer Anteile auf Angst |
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Original language | English |
Article number | EPP0849 |
ISSN | 0924-9338 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 19.07.2023 |