Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by anti-social behavior, compromised judgment and deficits of emotional processing. Researchers have been investigating the ability of psychopaths and individuals with psychopathic traits to recognize emotions expressed through the face. The present study performed a systematic review using the main international databases of articles about this theme, published between 1975 and 2013. Seventeen articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria of this review. The results evidenced the use of non-converging methods and suggest that psychopathy is related to deficits in recognition of negative feelings. Confirmatory data can only be achieved through a methodological standardization. In future studies the use of distinct stimuli exposure time is suggested.
psychopathy; facial expressions; emotions
