title: Callous-unemotional traits affect adolescents' perception of collaboration.
abstract: How is the perception of collaboration influenced by individual characteristics, in particular high levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits? CU traits are associated with low empathy and endorsement of negative social goals such as dominance and forced respect. Thus, it is possible that they could relate to difficulties in interpreting that others are collaborating based on a shared goal.
  
  
  
  In the current study, a community sample of 15- to 16-year olds participated in an eye tracking task measuring whether they expect that others engaged in an action sequence are collaborating, depending on the emotion they display toward each other. Positive emotion would indicate that they share a goal, while negative emotion would indicate that they hold individual goals.
  
  
  
  When the actors showed positive emotion toward each other, expectations of collaboration varied with CU traits. The higher adolescents were on CU traits, the less likely they were to expect collaboration. When the actors showed negative emotion toward each other, CU traits did not influence expectations of collaboration.
  
  
  
  The findings suggest that CU traits are associated with difficulty in perceiving positive social interactions, which could further contribute to the behavioral and emotional problems common to those with high CU traits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0898-9920
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fawcett
authors.affiliation: Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Wesevich
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Truedsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wåhlstedt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Gustaf
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gredebäck
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D012938:Social Perception
keywords: Callous-unemotional traits; adolescence; eye movement; social cognition