Story perspectives

Study Reveals Psychopaths View Fear Differently, Enjoy Arousal

3/10/2026

Summary

Story summary

A new Biological Psychology study from the University of Hagen, led by Miriam J. Hofmann, finds that high psychopathic traits involve atypical interpretations of fear and view physiological arousal as positive.
Participants with elevated psychopathy rated fear-inducing videos more positively and showed increased heart rates.
In contrast, those with low psychopathy traits linked a racing heart to negative feelings.
Limitations include a female-majority sample, which may limit generalizability.

1 of 1

Story summary

A new Biological Psychology study from the University of Hagen, led by Miriam J. Hofmann, finds that high psychopathic traits involve atypical interpretations of fear and view physiological arousal as positive.
Participants with elevated psychopathy rated fear-inducing videos more positively and showed increased heart rates.
In contrast, those with low psychopathy traits linked a racing heart to negative feelings.
Limitations include a female-majority sample, which may limit generalizability.