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2016 (English)In: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, ISSN 0021-9630, E-ISSN 1469-7610, Vol. 57, no 12, p. 1400-1406Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
BACKGROUND: 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.
METHODS: 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.
RESULTS: 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.
CONCLUSIONS: 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.
Keywords
Autism; Gaze following; Joint attention; Early development; Neurodevelopmental disorders; Social cognition; Communication; Younger siblings
National Category
Psychology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-309033 (URN)10.1111/jcpp.12588 (DOI)000388500300007 ()27363607 (PubMedID)
Funder
EU, European Research Council, ERC-StG CACTUS 312292Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, 2009-0869
2016-12-012016-12-012023-08-28Bibliographically approved