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Emotional reactivity and the association between psychopathy-linked narcissism and aggression in detained adolescent boys

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2013

Luna C. Muñoz Centifanti ,
Eva R. Kimonis ,
Paul J. Frick  and
Katherine J. Aucoin
Luna C. Muñoz Centifanti*
Affiliation:
University of Durham
Eva R. Kimonis
Affiliation:
University of South Florida
Paul J. Frick
Affiliation:
University of New Orleans
Katherine J. Aucoin
Affiliation:
Jefferson Parish Human Services Authority
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Luna C. Muñoz Centifanti, University of Durham, Department of Psychology, Durham DH1 3LE, UK; E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

Different patterns of emotional reactivity characterize proactive and reactive functions of aggressive behavior, and theory also suggests a link of both types with narcissism. How people with narcissistic traits respond emotionally to competitive scenarios could influence their aggressiveness. Participants were 85 adolescent boys from a detention center. Several indices of emotional functioning were assessed, including attentional bias to negative emotional stimuli and psychophysiological responding. In addition, we included self-report and laboratory measures of aggression and measures of psychopathy-linked narcissism, callous–unemotional traits, and impulsivity. Psychopathy-linked narcissism was uniquely related to unprovoked aggression (i.e., proactive aggression) and to heightened attention to pictures depicting others’ distress. Compared with those scoring low on narcissism, those high on narcissism, who were the least physiologically reactive group, evinced greater proactive aggression, whereas those showing a pattern of coactivation (i.e., sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic reactivity) evinced greater reactive aggression. Results are consistent with descriptions of narcissistic individuals as being hypervigilant to negative cues and exhibiting poor emotion regulation. These characteristics may lead to aggressive and violent behavior aimed at maintaining dominance over others.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , May 2013 , pp. 473 - 485
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013

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