Enjoying others’ distress and indifferent to threat? Changes in prefrontal-posterior coupling during social-emotional processing are linked to malevolent creativity

•(In)sensitivity to negative affective signals may motivate malevolent creativity.•We recorded EEG coherence changes (Δcoh) in response to others’ emotions.•Malevolent creativity relates to Δcoh during others’ crying (↓) and aggression (↑)•Δcoh reflect pleasure from others’ suffering and indifference to others’ aggression.•Social-emotional brain functions may help understand malevolent creativity.