Abstract
A little anxiety in social situations, such as during a presentation or meeting new people, is normal and even has a function. The tension reminds us to do our best so that we perform well, others like us and we are part of a group. But too much and too little anxiety has negative consequences. Social anxiety and psychopathic traits could represent the ends of such a continuum of anxiety in social situations: social anxiety is characterised by high anxiety and avoidance, while psychopathic traits are characterised by a lack of anxiety and antisocial behaviour. This thesis examined 1) the extent to which social anxiety and psychopathic traits are negatively related, as well as 2) the extent to which their development, hormones, thoughts and behaviour differ. Six studies were conducted, examining the roles of temperament, cortisol and testosterone, distorted thoughts, as well as automatic behaviour. My studies have shown that the emotional component of social anxiety is the opposite of psychopathic traits. As for the other domains, such as development, hormones, thoughts and behaviour, this spectrum was not present. Instead, these domains were related to social anxiety and/or psychopathic traits. For clinical practice, it is important to be aware of the multifaceted nature of psychopathic traits, as well as the co-occurrence of social anxiety and aggression so that treatments can be better tailored to people's needs and/or problems.
