Psychopathic criminals have empathy switch

[xchrom]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23431793

Psychopaths do not lack empathy, rather they can switch it on at will, according to new research.

Placed in a brain scanner, psychopathic criminals watched videos of one person hurting another and were asked to empathise with the individual in pain.

Only when asked to imagine how the pain receiver felt did the area of the brain related to pain light up.

Scientists, reporting in Brain, say their research explains how psychopaths can be both callous and charming.

[BanzaiBonnie]

1. I wonder if that means that a program like "Roots of Empathy"

which is a program with a proven record for reducing agressive behavior, would help in the development of individuals who keep the empathy switched on.

[BanzaiBonnie]

2. It's a fact that there are fewer individuals who display

this behavior in Japan and some other countries. I'm guessing that societal pressure to work for the good of society as a whole plays a part in this. We don't do that. We applaud that thing called rugged individualism. Git 'er done, do it your way.

[LuvNewcastle]

4. I was going to say, people like that are fairly common.

I've known many people like that and they aren't just psychopathic criminals. I guess you could say that they have psychopathic personalities.

[reformist2]

3. Reminds me of how people are always told to separate feelings from business.

One could argue that moving up the ladder almost requires increasing levels of psychotic qualities.

[LuvNewcastle]

6. 'Psychotic' and 'psychopathic' are different.

Here's an explanation of the difference between the two:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beautiful-minds/201103/psychotic-is-not-the-same-psychopathic

[backscatter712]

18. The way I remember:

Psychotic: Norman Bates.
Psychopathic: Hannibal Lector.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

5. Two questions

1) can it work in reverse, i.e. making a non-psychopath inured to the suffering of others? (scary thought)

2) does that may some forms of psychopathy should no longer be considered a mental illness as the individual can choose when to flip the switch?

[Hydra]

15. Quasi-studied here

1) Yes. And it IS scary. It's happening right now.

2) "Mental Illness" is a can of worms. I couldn't think of an easy way to boil it down, because some forms of mental illness are simply socially unacceptable urges(see gayness as mental illness). That said, things where it's harmful to someone else and the person can exert control over it...that's just "normal." The people who can't control it because it's chemically induced are the ones who get put in the "mentally ill" category.

Hope that helps. Psych is almost more of an art form than a science in some ways, because we don't all start the same and react the same to things, so there's no way to get an objective scale point of "0" for anything.

[Avalux]

7. So....it's a choice?

Psychopaths are not 'victims' of a lack of empathy, but they can control it?

Somehow, that makes them seem even worse. But then again, if they can empathize, then there's a possibility they can be rehabilitated. Unless they just don't want to be.....

[Igel]

14. That's what the sound-bite version of the research says.

Then again, "they can switch it on at will" doesn't mean that they are aware that they can or see a reason to do so.

It may be something that they do only when prompted because, well, it's just how they are and they're okay with that.

[davidpdx]

8. It makes me wonder about George Zimmerman and Casey Anthony

Can you imagine if the two of them had a child together? The only possible name would be Damien.

[nytemare]

19. Shudder at the thought.

[octoberlib]

9. I thought for sure this was an article on Republicans. nt

[gordianot]

11. Failure to develop empathy is also a subset Republicans share with other Psychopathic Criminals.

Do you think Mitt Romney for a minute empathized with Corporate victims? Did Sarah Palin feel regret when Gabby Giffords was shot following her advertisement with crosshairs?

[Lizzie Poppet]

10. That doesn't surprise me, really.

Psychopath =/= sociopath.

[corkhead]

12. funny, I read it this way...

Republicans have empathy switch



Republicans do not lack empathy, rather they can switch it on at will, according to new research.

Placed in a brain scanner, Republicans watched laws being passed to raise taxes on billionares and were asked to empathize with the individual in pain.

Only when asked to imagine how the pain receiver felt did the area of the brain related to pain light up.

Scientists, reporting in Brain, say their research explains how Republicans can be both callous and charming.

[phantom power]

13. I wonder how this relates...

to the general human tendency to empathize more with family/tribe than people outside. Or the human tendency to assign people into "tribe/other" to begin with.

All humans seem to have some innate facility for expressing empathy for some and none at all for others. As with all human traits, I assume this lies along a spectrum.

[Hydra]

16. It has to be related

We haven't spent enough generations out of tribe patterns to have adapted to something as big as we have now.

That said, I'm guessing the initial way this worked was by bonding with family/tribe, but the on/off switch they are talking about can be used for your gain with people outside the tribe and shut off when dealing with your tribe for the same reason.

It's a dangerous adaptation, useful for the individual, deadly for the whole.

[indepat]

17. Is someone I had thought a sociopath really a psychopath in sheep's clothing?