Check out Top 10 Theories About How Biology Creates A Criminal

2 A Matter Of The Heart

Studies have shown that teens with a low resting heart rate may be at risk of becoming violent offenders when they become adults. In Sweden, military service was mandatory until 2009. Among other tests, every young man had his heart rate measured when he was about 18. Researchers analyzed this data and divided the men into five groups based on their heart rate.Surprisingly, those men with resting heart rates of no more than 60 beats per minute were 39 percent more likely to be convicted of a violent crime over the next few decades than the men with the highest heart rates of 83 or more beats per minute. Those violent crimes included murder, assault, and arson. The group with the lowest resting heart rates was also 25 percent more likely to commit nonviolent crimes like drug use and 39 percent more likely to be injured by an assault or in an accident.To explain this, researchers have suggested that a person with a low resting heart rate may have unusually low levels of psychological arousal, meaning that they feel less awake and alert. This may lead them to seek stimulating experiences like risky behaviors and crime. It may also mean that they have less of a reaction to mildly stressful experiences like getting your heart rate checked, which would mean that they are more fearless and prone to taking risks.