Psychopathy and heart rate variability: a new physiological marker for the adaptive features of boldness

Abstract

The boldness disposition of the triarchic model of psychopathy is theorized to entail, aside from mal-adaptive proclivities (narcissism, fearless risk-taking), some adaptive features (e.g., immunity to stressful events, high self-esteem, and emotional resilience) that seem to predispose high boldness individuals to an effective emotional regulation in response to environmental demands. The high frequency band of heart rate variability —an index of parasympathetic cardiac vagal activity— is a well-validated physiological index of emotional self-regulation and mental health resilience. The aim of this study was to examine the unique predictive contributions of triarchic dispositions of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition on resting vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) in a sample of 241 undergraduates (60 men) assessed via the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM; Patrick, 2010). A hierarchical regression analysis was conducted on vmHRV in which TriPM Boldness, Meanness, and Disinhibition scores were entered as predictors, along with gender, age, body mass index, mean resting heart rate, and respiratory activity. Results showed that only TriPM Boldness —but not Meanness or Disinhibition—scores significantly predicted vmHRV (positively), thus evidencing that adequate emotional self-regulation is one of the adaptive features encompassed by the boldness disposition. These findings encourage further use of vmHRV as a physiological marker of boldness and contribute to shedding light on the nomological network surrounding the construct of boldness in psychopathy.