Psychopathy has long been associated with major criminals, violent offenders, and compelling true crime narratives. Recent research found that the connection between psychopathy and how people experience pain goes beyond surface-level perceptions, thereby explaining their reduced empathy.
Everyone exhibits psychopathic traits to some degree. Psychopaths as a category stand as the most extreme examples within the entire psychopathy spectrum. People who show elevated psychopathic character traits demonstrate greater pain tolerance, which becomes visible through their bodily responses. A recent 2022 study discovered that people who display more psychopathic characteristics experience less brain activation when experiencing pain under pressure conditions.
Participants experienced increasing pressure levels during the experiment until reaching their individual pain threshold, which marked their maximum pain tolerance level. Research findings showed comparable pain thresholds between the low psychopathy participants and the high psychopathy participants. Participants underwent pressure tests that extended from minimal levels to intensities equivalent to their self-reported pain tolerance. Each time the researchers conducted an application, the study participants measured their pain levels between 0 and 100.
Participants with higher psychopathy scores indicated a perception of less pain than participants with lower psychopathy scores. Individuals with higher psychopathy scores reported lower pain intensity. The study participants showed similar skin conductance responses regardless of their psychopathy trait level.
Individuals with higher psychopathic traits perceive pain differently, which may contribute to increased risk-taking and aggression due to weaker associations between pain, fear, and punishment.
Studies indicate that people diagnosed with psychopathy do not experience normal warning signals during threatening events because their bodies fail to respond appropriately. The research results indicate that the dissimilar pain experiences between people with elevated psychopathic traits and those with lower levels stem more from psychological mechanisms instead of physical differences. The discrepancy between self-reported pain experiences might exist without affecting the identical sweat responses.
Children showing psychopathic traits usually practice intense methods to handle fear, according to research conducted in 2019. Under stressful situations, people with psychopathic tendencies might exhibit a reduction in emotional reactions combined with detached behaviors or risk-taking actions for stress management.
Scientists studied pain reactions in participants toward both their own uncomfortable experiences and those experienced by others. The experiment showed participants various pictures that showed victims experiencing pain through shots of a hand caught in a door and a foot on broken glass. Scientific research previously discovered that psychopathic people do not experience typical nervous system activation during critical moments when others need help. The research published in 2015 established links between psychopathy level elevation and reduced brain activity observations of painful situations.
The connection between psychopathy and modified pain processing shows evidence across different research investigations. The investigation of eight research studies demonstrated that people possessing psychopathic traits show reduced brain function when experiencing pain in others. Neural networks that process pain and empathy share the same pathways, so people with diminished pain responsiveness have difficulty understanding what others experience.
People who exhibit psychopathic traits do not automatically become criminal offenders because of those traits. Research shows that specific psychopathic tendencies offer effective benefits. The research conducted in 2022 demonstrates that having psychopathic traits supports better emotional control. The ability of psychopathic attributes to protect against stress enables medical personnel to deliver quick, logical decisions while maintaining their composure in situations that demand rapid medical responses.
References: Psychopaths experience pain differently, even when their bodies say otherwise. The Conversation. March 25, 2025. https://theconversation.com/psychopaths-experience-pain-differently-even-when-their-bodies-say-otherwise-251529
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