The Differences between sociopathy and psychopathy Are sometimes difficult to understand by people who are not experts in the subject, however, it is possible to delimit certain features of behavior.
Not being able to differentiate them clearly is normal, because even psychologists, psychiatrists or criminologists do not sometimes agree what characterizes one or the other. In fact, I've read quite a few articles that use both terms as if they were the same.
I'm going to refer to DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), which came out in 2013, although I increasingly doubt its validity and reliability, due to the clear interests of pharmaceutical companies.
It is the manual used by psychiatrists and psychologists to diagnose diseases and mental disorders. According to this manual, sociopathy and psychopathy are located in the disorders of"Antisocial Personality". These disorders are formed by many common behaviors, so it can be difficult to differentiate them.
First of all, I will refer to the statistics, then I will explain the differences and finally I will give you examples of known psychopaths from real life and fiction.
Do you know any psychopath or sociopath? You can comment at the end of the article. I am interested in your opinion. Thanks!
If you want to know some of the most famous psychopaths in history You can visit this article .
About us
Before beginning with the shared and different traits, I would like to tell you the actual statistics of these"disorders".
According to wikipedia , "A disorder is a behavioral or psychological pattern of clinical significance which, whatever its cause, is an individual manifestation of a behavioral, psychological or biological dysfunction."
You may think that these disorders are extremely rare, however look at some statistics indicate that 1-3% of males and 1% of females are psychopaths.
So, we are likely to meet people who have these behavioral traits on a daily basis. At least 400,000 people in all of Spain are psychopaths, many more in countries with more population like Mexico or Argentina.
In fact, it is believed that great political and business leaders are psychopaths, which can be dangerous when they have a lot of power, since their decisions influence millions of people.
Who will be psychotic among the people you know?
Shared Behaviors
The key behaviors and traits that share sociopathy and psychopathy are:
- Do not feel remorse or guilt .
- Contempt for the rights of others.
- Disregard for social laws and norms.
- Tendency to behave violently.
17 Differences between sociopaths and psychopaths
Characteristics of sociopaths
A definition of sociopath can be: person with difficulty adapting to society and to establish personal relationships, with contempt for laws and social norms and emotionally unstable.
- Sociopaths are often nervous and agitated in a simple way.
- They have outbursts of rage and are somewhat emotionally unstable.
- They are difficult to maintain a stable job and can live on the margins of society.
- It is difficult for them to establish personal ties with others.
- Although they can establish a bond with someone or a group, they do not respect social norms.
- For others, they are"rare"and if they commit crimes they will be violent, random, impulsive and unplanned.
Characteristics of psychopaths
A definition of psychopath Can be: person with lack of empathy, with contempt for laws and social norms, manipulative and normally well-adapted socially.
- They do not feel empathy By people, and in general, by living beings.
- Although often"charming,"they are unable to establish emotional bonds with other people.
- They are usually manipulative and they know how to gain the trust of others.
- Although they find it difficult to feel their emotions, they learn to show them.
- Therefore, they seem normal, they are not"rare".
- They normally lead a normal life, have good jobs and are well educated.
- It is difficult to know if someone is a psychopath or not because they are very good at manipulating and pretending.
- When they commit crimes (only a very small minority of psychopaths commit them), they do so in a planned way.
- They are calm, meticulous and some very charismatic.
- They tend to be leaders.
- According to the specialist Robert Hare :"They look smart, but they really are not especially bright. Some of them, of course. And when they are intelligent they are more dangerous."
In an interview, Robert Hare answers the question"Can you be friends with psychopaths?
"Yes but not that much. There are people who love psychopaths. Because they are fun. They will deceive and suck the essence, but they are attractive, even at the cost of such a high price. In the end, when you no longer serve them, they leave you. Psychopaths are emotional sponges and absorb everything we have. But if you squeeze a sponge, release everything you took. They do not. If you squeeze them, only dust will come out."
Causes of differences
It is believed that psychopathy is influenced largely by genetics, while sociopathy would be the cause of the medium.
Psychopathy is related to a physiological defect that results in a lack of development of a brain region in charge of controlling emotions and impulses. Sociopathy can be a cause of childhood trauma, physical or emotional abuse.
When it comes to committing crimes, psychopaths are no doubt fearsome and dangerous, because of how they separate their actions and their emotional repercussions. That is, despite the seriousness of the crimes, they will feel no guilt or pity.
Discarding Myths
In my opinion, they are not"all or nothing"disorders. I mean, you're either a psychopath or not. Therefore, I think it is much more complicated to see pure psychopaths.
There will be people who have some traits and some not, and some features more accentuated than others. There will also be others who are 100% psychopaths.
On the other hand, only the minority of psychopaths or sociopaths commit crimes.
It is possible that those who commit violent crimes (such as Hannibal ) Are psychopaths, but not all psychopaths commit crimes.
And in reality, many business and political leaders are thought to be psychopaths (an estimated 4% of them are). This does not mean that they do things wrong, although in case of doing them they could have disastrous consequences.
Robert Hare answers the question: How does 1% of psychopaths affect society?:
"That 1% can have an impact on millions of people. Look, for example, at major financial scandals, with losses for thousands of people. Behind it is a psychopathic mind. In big business, psychopathy is no exception. What kind of person do you think is capable of stealing thousands of investors, ruining them even after they commit suicide? They will say they are sorry, but they will never return the money. It's even worse than many assassins do."
In this article You can find out more myths about Psychology.
Real and fictitious known psychopaths
I am convinced that it will help you better understand the differences with examples of people you may already know.
As you can see, none of them was precisely a"little cortito de mente". They are all intelligent and plan their crimes fairly well.
Real
- Adolf Hitler: undoubtedly one of the most cruel people in history.
- Josef Mengele: he was known as"the angel of death", participated in the deaths of thousands of people and in some of the most cruel experiments in history.
- Charles Manson was the planner of the macabre murder of Sharon Tate (wife of Roman Polanski) and his guests at his Beverly Hills residence on August 9, 1969.
Fictitious
- Hannibal Lecter: undoubtedly one of the clearest exponents of the cinema of an intelligent psychopath, calm and who commits his crimes in a planned and leaving clues. A very good scene is when, in the second part, he is quietly dining with friends in Italy, he is kind and charismatic. However, shortly afterwards he commits several murders.
The first film in which this character appears is"The silence of the lambs"and the second is titled"Hannibal".
And what do you know about psychopaths or sociopaths? What traits do you think they have? I am interested in your opinion! Thank you.