A Study of Peripheral Nervous System's Markers as Predictors of Antisocial Behavior

The study of antisocial behavior (ASB) and its underlying causes has been a topic of research for decades. While many studies have focused on the psychological and environmental factors that contribute to such behavior, there has been a growing interest in the role of the peripheral nervous system in predicting antisocial behavior. In this paper envy and schadenfreude as the forms of ABS will be described. Complex design of the study includes such methods as Facereader, EMG, EDA, and HRV registration. Participants played economic competitive game, which was constructed in a particular way to provoke emotional responses as schadenfreude or potential envy. Results revealed significant variations in HRV and facial expressions across conditions, providing evidence for the physiological basis of schadenfreude and envy. Specifically, HRV demonstrated significant differences in the combined analysis of blocks (p = 0.012), while the corrugator muscle exhibited significant activity during the first block (p = 0.05), suggesting a distinct physiological response to the initial experience of the game. Furthermore, Facereader analysis consistently identified envy as a predominant emotion, highlighting its influence on the participants’ emotional landscape. These results underscore the potential of using psychophysiological markers to objectively assess complex emotional states.