The effect of psychopathy, empathy and gender on gaze patterns

Previous research shows that adolescent males high in callous-unemotional (CU) traits have aberrant gaze-patterns when viewing fearful stimuli. This study sought to extend and replicate previous findings to see if the affective deficits (i.e., CU traits) of psychopathy have a similar relationship to gaze patterns in a non-clinical population. Participants were given self-report measures of psychopathy and empathy and shown norm rated stimuli from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) while gaze patterns were recorded. Results show the only significant relationship between psychopathy, empathy and gaze-patterns was for the impulsive factor of psychopathy in males.