Psychopathy and Low Anxiety: Meta-Analytic Evidence for the Absence of Inhibition, Not Affect.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Meta-analysis of observational studies; rated Level 1 by design analogy, not clinical CEBM.
PubMed 25130868 · doi:10.1111/jopy.12124
What was done
The authors conducted three meta-analyses evaluating the relationships between psychopathy (total score and Factor 1 and Factor 2 scores) and three separate parsed components of the low anxiety construct: anxiety, fear, and constraint.
What was found
The abstract reports qualitative directions and relative magnitudes without numerical effect sizes, sample sizes, or confidence intervals: - Psychopathy Total was negligibly related to anxiety and fear, but showed a medium negative relation with constraint. - Psychopathy Factor 1 was negatively related to anxiety, fear, and constraint. - Psychopathy Factor 2 was positively related to anxiety and negatively related to constraint.
Why it matters
These findings help resolve ambiguity in psychopathy research by demonstrating that psychopathy entails deficits in behavioral inhibition and constraint rather than a generalized absence of negative affect.
Limits
The abstract does not state the number of studies, sample sizes, exact effect sizes, or confidence intervals. The underlying primary literature consists of observational correlational studies, leaving potential for residual confounding and measurement variation across different psychopathy instruments.
Cited by
- supports Factor 1 psychopaths lack anxiety and fear responses, whereas Factor 2 psychopaths experience high anxiety, violent tendencies, and aggressive impulses.