ArticleScientific reports2026
Dark Personality, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior in Convicted Offenders.
Article in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Emotional Processing in Incarcerated Men and Women: Associations with Psychopathic Traits.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
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4 authors.
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Abstract
The complex interplay between social cognition (empathy and theory of mind), the dark core of personality, and prosociality in convicted offenders has not been thoroughly explored, yet it is deemed essential for predicting and reducing criminal behavior. We aimed to address this intersection in a sample of convicted offenders (N = 86), using the EmpaToM paradigm. The dark factor of personality was a negative predictor of helping behavior in the EmpaToM, self-reported prosociality, and self-reported empathy. It was also negatively related to EmpaToM empathy, especially its Callousness and Sadism dimensions. However, it was not significantly associated with self-reported or applied theory of mind abilities. The negative effect of the Dark Factor on the EmpaToM intention to help in emotionally negative situations was mediated by decreased empathy measured in the same task. Our results highlight the importance of considering the dark personality core together with social cognition in the development of prosocial behavior and, implicitly, in increasing the effectiveness of specifically targeted rehabilitation interventions. Also, the current findings offer preliminary evidence supporting the external and construct validity of a modified EmpaToM for a prison context.
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