Is it true that pedophiles feel less empathy than most other people?

[rpgvx]

Personally I don't feel empathy, and I don't feel loving or romantic emotions, I do like rape fantasies, even so nothing of that is really disturbing or has to warrant any concern. It's just an abnormality. And it doesn't have anything to do with pedophilia, most people I've interacted with and seen on pedo communities like this aren't like that, and it doesn't impact me committing an offense or not.

It's really quite an irrelevant statement to make, it's irresponsibly using a scapegoat for what's actually more complex, and I feel like it shows nothing but their own shortsightedness that normal people do commit harm for various reasons. I assume they'd rather dissociate from that and demonize it in a way that makes it different from themselves, because they can't possibly reckon with the fact that it's not too dissimilar from themselves and that they're also people that need to be accountable for their own actions.

A lot of people think that pedophiles are unable to feel empathy or compassion and therefore dont feel romance or emotional connection towards children like people do towards adults.

I dont know if that's true, but in my opinion, i have romantic feelings towards preteen girls. Usually what men feel for women, i feel for girls that age. I often fantasize about getting their attention by impressing them in some way or buying them gifts or flowers. I also fantasize about cuddling or kissing or hugging them or protecting them. Even just staring at them all day. I feel fascinated with girls that age. I feel interested in their hobbies, interests, or what they do in their free time. I feel attracted to their immature personality. I generally dont feel this way towards adult women unless they look childlike.

Well you just described a romantic and emotional attraction to children so I don't know why you're conflicted about that part.

But also, if you want to look at pathological descriptions, pedophilia can be said to include cognitively distorted thinking patterns that make you believe pedophilic acts are okay and that children can consent. But it's primarily about distorted thinking, not being unable to feel empathy or compassion.

Pedophiles may believe some actions to a child carries no harm, but I think it's different if you know you're harming them and overriding it. Both are possible but the latter is what would be more antisocial, especially if it's part of a larger personality pattern.

Outside of sexual attraction I do have problems feeling empathy. For instance, my mother died a few months ago and I dont feel any sadness about her death, even though I lived with her my whole life and my father wasn't around that much. Does this suggest I have antisocial traits and does it relate to being a MAP?

Yeah I agree, although being a MAP personally I'm not an empathetic person. I often think about hurting people who threaten or insult me. I never really had any problem killing bugs either.

Even before I began feeling attracted to minors, I was sympathetic towards MAPs and pedophiles, I didn't hate them like most people do.

It's typical to not have a problem killing bugs, it's something else to pick the hair off a cat and dissect its limbs before running it through a washing machine and watching it suffer and cry out while you pour boiling water on it. If you felt guilty killing bugs that also wouldn't suggest the inverse as far as I'm concerned lol.

Antisocial traits are a spectrum, everyone has them to some degree. If you think of it in the range of normal variation, there exists variation in innovation and independent thinking too. I don't know what's cause for your sympathy, but a willingness to break the bonds of social norms by e.g. having your own stance towards MAPs and pedophiles, is you could say, somewhat on the spectrum in that regard.

Think of the people that may've broken the social mold by creating a forum like this, or the early days of people that started doing youtube, despite the common thinking that you shouldn't resign yourself to the online world or that you can't make a career out of it. That's in a way more antisocial than people who wouldn't do those things. That doesn't mean you should say they have antisocial traits, and of course you shouldn't with pedophiles either or with yourself from those things alone. Although a lot of people admittedly do this out of an already existing sense of community and other reasons.

If you want any reflection about your reactions, I think that'd require going wayyy more in depth and understanding you more.

Not at all. On the contrary, research indicates that MAPs actually have superior empathy to non-MAPs. For instance, see: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-23390-001

Most MAPs wouldn't even hurt a bug. Literally. I've run informal surveys on MAP sites about what to do when you find a bug inside your home. The majority trap it in a glass and release it outside, not wanting to harm the small creature. Most MAPs are just more sensitive and empathetic than normies.

Can you really entertain for one moment the ludicrous notion that the antis, who would judge and harm MAPs, are really the empathetic ones?? No way! MAPs are way more empathetic.

I think this is quite obviously anecdotally and perhaps also evidentially true. But also, the fact that emotional congruence with children is a research construct that's considered a higher risk factor seems quite evident. Increased emotional resonance and affective state being a higher risk factor rather than lower, would indicate the opposite of it being about lack of empathy. Again, that relates more to cognitively distorted thinking if anything, at least before it would ever be associated with lack of empathy being the cause.

It all depends on the individual. I'm sure there is sadistic maps out there just like there is sadistic " normal " people. I will say though the world does always distort any pedophile into a monster. If a man or woman has sex with a kid. The world makes out that they have raped them and the kid will forever be traumatised. Even if that kid has consented.

I completely agree, and while you're referring to a sadistic personality which is just someone that wants to hurt people, thought I'd also just add that there are people with sexual sadism, which is different. These people can also have empathy and often don't want to hurt anyone even though it's what they're aroused by. And these are also found among pedophiles too as anywhere else.

I think pedophiles are more likely to be pushovers. I mean just look at the fact pedos don't bite back against all the hatred. I've seen pedos get call all sorts of cruel brutal things by bigots and the pedo responds back politely

Fwiw I don't think this is a flaw of their character. Many pedos around these kinds of spaces that I'm familiar with are also quite vulnerable to self-condemnation, but I also think that's quite normal, it's just what you get when you equip a person in an extreme circumstance with a normal personality that isn't suited for that environment. A normative person is usually dependent on community, validation, etc. and aren't necessarily built to bite back like that, probably especially not if they're already breaking due to the former.