Response Inhibition in an Affective Context and Its Relation to Psychopathic Traits

Background: Psychopathic traits are associated with affective deficits and elevated impulsivity levels, such as those measured by Go/No-go tasks. Previous research assessing the combined effects of psychopathic traits and emotional processing on response inhibition has focused on low cognitive load task designs and found little evidence of valence-dependent effects. Objective: To investigate whether assessing affective response inhibition under low and high cognitive load manipulations reveals interactive effects between psychopathic traits and valence processing on response inhibition. Methods: We assessed 146 student and community participants using the Psychopathic Personality Inventory—Revised (PPI-R). Response inhibition was measured under low and high cognitive load using the parametric Go/No-go task (PGNG) alongside positive, negative, and neutral distractor images. Results: Cognitive load and valence affected performance. Response times were faster and accuracy rates were higher for the low-load (easier) task stage. Negative and positive trials slowed response times and reduced response inhibition performance compared with neutral trials. In terms of psychopathic traits, the PPI-R Self-Centered Impulsivity factor and two of its subscales, Machiavellian Egocentricity and Blame Externalization, correlated negatively with response inhibition across valences and load. Correcting for other psychopathic traits accounted for the effect of Machiavellian Egocentricity, while the associations between inhibition and Self-Centered Impulsivity as well as Blame Externalization remained significant. Conclusion: Psychopathic traits were associated with reduced response inhibition performance irrespective of the affective context, even when measured under increased cognitive load. These findings add to the existing evidence against an interaction between psychopathic traits and emotional processing during response inhibition.