Testing Damasio's somatic marker hypothesis with psychopathic individuals: risk takers or risk averse?
Damasio and colleagues (A. R. Damasio, 1994; A. R. Damasio, D. Tranel, & H. Damasio, 1990) have theorized about a possible relationship between somatic markers and the behavior of psychopathic individuals (Ps), but, to date, there are no published data regarding the proposed relationship. The authors assessed 86 Caucasian and 71 African American male offenders using R. D. Hare's (1991) Psychopathy Checklist--Revised and used a modified version of Bechara and colleagues' (A. Bechara, A. R. Damasio, H. Damasio, & S. W. Anderson, 1994; A. Bechara, H. Damasio, D. Tranel, & A. R. Damasio, 1997) gambling task to test the hypothesis that Ps would, consistent with the somatic marker hypothesis, fail to become risk averse. Results indicated that level of anxiety, but not psychopathy, was predictive of response choices. Several limitations and implications of the study are noted.
Schmitt
W A
WA
Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison 53706, USA. wschmitt@students.wisc.edu
Brinkley
C A
CA
Newman
J P
JP
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012309:Risk-Taking; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology