{
  "id": 8801432,
  "title": "Does a low resting heart rate actually cause antisocial behavior?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/does-a-low-resting-heart-rate-actually-cause-antisocial-behavior",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-21T00:00:38.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PsyPost",
    "slug": "psypost",
    "url": "https://www.psypost.org/does-a-low-resting-heart-rate-actually-cause-antisocial-behavior/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent study published in Aggression and Violent Behavior suggests that a preference for exciting and risky experiences may be more closely linked to antisocial behavior than resting heart rate. While lower resting heart rates have historically been associated with heightened antisocial behavior, researchers found little evidence that this heart rate metric directly causes such behavior. Instead, sensation seeking — the desire for varied, novel and intense experiences — emerged as a more promising focus for future prevention efforts.\n\nIn a sample of 8,422 adults and 4,526 twin participants, the study revealed that individuals with higher sensation-seeking scores tended to report more instances of antisocial behavior. This relationship persisted even when examining both fraternal and identical twins, indicating a potential causal link between sensation seeking and antisocial tendencies.\n\nHowever, the link between resting heart rate and antisocial behavior proved less convincing. A genetic predisposition to a higher resting heart rate was actually associated with increased antisocial behavior, a finding that was only observed in the broad sample and not in the twin analyses. Moreover, the proxy measure for resting heart rate did not predict sensation seeking itself. Consequently, the researchers concluded that sensation seeking could serve as a more effective target for interventions aimed at reducing antisocial behavior, regardless of an individual's resting heart rate. Limitations of the study included reliance on self-report questionnaires and the predominately low scores for antisocial behavior among participants, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to more severely affected populations.",
  "summary": "Using genetic data from thousands of twins, researchers have challenged a long-held psychological theory. They found little evidence that resting heart rate causes antisocial behavior, pointing instead to sensation seeking as a key target for behavioral therapies.",
  "key_points": [
    "Lower resting heart rate not linked to antisocial behavior directly",
    "Sensation seeking emerges as key factor in antisocial behavior",
    "Genetic predisposition to higher resting heart rate linked to antisocial behavior"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Shifting focus from resting heart rate to sensation seeking changes the approach to preventing antisocial behavior, targeting interventions at individuals with a desire for varied, novel and intense experiences.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}