Difference Between Psychopath And A Sociopath

Great Essays
What’s the difference between a Psychopath and a Sociopath?
Many scientists and psychologists don’t believe that there is a distinct difference between the two. Both share a disregard for laws and social standard’s they violate the rights of other people, they do not display (or have) remorse or guilt or take others into consideration, the both have a tendency to display violent behavior or in certain ways reckless behavior.
Sociopaths are nervous and easily agitated, very violent, and they also have a very quick volatile temper, most are not well educated and cannot keep a long-term job or even keep any job very long for that matter, they are not able to keep relationships or form attachments and keep them. They also are not very organized and most are not able to plan ahead, Only day to day thoughts and activities.
Where on the other hand Psychopaths are also not able to form true attachments, or feel real empathy towards others. They are very charming have great social skills and they appear to be extremely easy going and able to trust easily. They can hold down jobs and they are able to “maintain” a relationship by being able to mimic (almost perfectly) emotions. They are also very organized, cool and calm in any situation handed to them. They are also very manipulative but you don’t ever honestly realize because of the charm and trusting nature they present.
Most white collar criminals are considered con
…show more content…
The lack of empathy these people have can help them overcome many obstacles and succeed with big goals such as being a successful President or a top of the game

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The short film Breathe directed by Toby Meakins depicts two men conjuring a ghost by holding their breath, the longer they hold their breath the more she does. The one man who had obviously done the interaction before then suffocates the man that he introduces to the supernatural girl. I believe that he does this because he classifies as a person with antisocial personality disorder. I think this because he shows a lot of indicators that would classify him as a psychopath or a sociopath. There are slight distinctions between psychopaths and sociopaths although they do share multiple personality traits including a disregard for laws and social morals, disregard for the rights of others, a failure to feel remorse or guilt, and a tendency…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    `Psychopathic personality' was once widely used but was superseded by `sociopathic personality' to indicate the social aspects of the disorder, but now `antisocial personality disorder' is the preferred term. The term psychopath is commonly used incorrectly in the media to describe someone who has done something considered “evil.” Terrorists, mass killers and bombers often get labeled with this term before anyone has caught them, let alone had time to make an assessment of them. It’s become shorthand for people who do terrible things, and that disconnect from the reality of the situation is a problem in the way we view people and their actions. By labeling someone a psychopath, it’s easy to write them off as evil and never look at the actual factors that go into their actions.…

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    An article describing the characteristics of psychopaths and sociopaths. The article covers many areas such as violence over confidence and shallow to none emotions. Compares the differences between psychopaths and sociopaths.…

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    They can even give off a submissive vibe to manipulate any criminal to think they got a fighting chance. Just imagine being in front of someone who will help you through the processes that are the judicial system with a smile and a soft tone gaining your trust and plotting against you ready to strike when given the chance. The skill of deception and a law school education and about 4 or 5 years of a university or college is considered overkill in some cases. All these new thing they learned to do but it all comes down to it they must be willing to use the skills they gained to extract any possible information like a smooth con-artist without any…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Critical Analysis Robert Siciliano analyzes the differences and similarities between psychopaths and sociopaths in “Psychopath Vs. Sociopath: What’s the Difference.” Throughout the article, Siciliano addresses the differences and similarities between psychopaths and sociopaths, addresses the difference among psychopaths, sociopaths, and psychotics, and addresses nature versus nurture. Besides a conclusion made without the right information, this makes for an informative and effective article that covers the basis of topics related to psychopaths and sociopaths while Siciliano shows an excellent understanding of the subjects.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Martha Stout would describe a sociopath as someone who has no empathy for another person, has no conscience, and does not feel guilt. In other words they lack moral reasoning, “Moral reasoning is the thought process that attends conscience and helps it decide what to do” (Stout, p.171). In the model for morality and moral development, made by Lawrence Kohlberg, these individual would belong to Level 1, that’s when moral issues are approached from the perspective of self-interest Sociopaths are commonly known to be criminals or have criminal characteristics, which isn't always the case, but can also be described as ethical egoism, which states, “we should act from self-interest—that our motivation for moral behavior should be our own rationally derived interests” (Williams & Arrigo, p.103). In this reading I would argue…

    • 1793 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Definition Psychopathy is a severe mental illness or disorder, in which is characterized by some, not necessarily all, of the following features: manipulative, shallow emotions and poor impulsivity. Manipulative is when an individual is characterized by unscrupulous control of a situation or another individual. Shallow emotions lack of valuing qualities in a person that is hidden but can be perceived. Poor impulsivity when having no self-control over emotions or behavior. Causes There’s no exact cause to psychopathy besides the combination of genetics, environmental and interpersonal factors.…

    • 1105 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Psychopath Vs Sociopath

    • 107 Words
    • 1 Pages

    The immense sadness that comes with death will always be prevalent in the souls of humanity. When someone who touched our lives leaves the physical world questions of why the sudden fatality occurred arise. Who cause the families and friends this intense dolefulness? It has been a desire of many who lose others due violence to find out why others choose to harm others. Two types of vicious killers that may give us an insight to why they committed inhumane crimes are psychopaths and sociopaths.…

    • 107 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Psychopaths are very fascinating individuals. These individuals tend to demonstrate a side of themselves that characterize crazy or perilous behavior, however to these individuals it's just their personality. Numerous researchers have discovered what makes an insane person, from an mental case is antisocial behavior. Psychopaths can be created from one accident this could be from a traumatic head injury can cause change in the brain. This can damage the prefrontal cortex.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sociopath Vs Psychopaths

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Some of the difference between the two is that a psychopath will steal your phone or purse and won't give it another thought won't feel guilt of any kind, where a sociopath will know that it is the wrong thing to…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This is seen from a criminology point of view. Using a psychological perspective, the understanding of sociopaths and psychopathy becomes more intricate when it comes to topics such as nature vs. nurture. In lots of cases, psychologists and criminology professionals work together. In lots of cases of sociopathy, it’s common that the deviant person will be inspected and looked at in the light of biological, psychological, and social aspects of sociopathic behavior. There are many different things that go into determining if one is a sociopath or if they are a psychopath.…

    • 1592 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A sociopath has a mental disability that prevents them from having rational thoughts, that would otherwise normally stop a person without a disability from enacting upon behaviors. A psychopath, however similar is also very different. The definition of a psychopath is; “ a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior.” This person is highly unstable and very aggressive. The public fears that if these people were sentenced to a mental facility, that they can be released and once again be a hazard to public health.…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Merriam-Webster defines “sociopath” as “someone who behaves in a dangerous or violent way towards other people and does not feel guilty about such behavior.” Ah, I’m sure we all have someone who comes to mind: bosses, spouses, parents. When these people are in our immediate life their destructive behavior isn’t so funny. But when they are in the public eye hilarity ensues-- until we remember that a lot of these horribly funny people are in or have been in positions of political power. Let’s take a look at some of the most ridiculous characteristics of some pretty horrible people.…

    • 969 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    They want to act out of their fantasies. The same fantasies they had had as children are the ones they want to still act out as adults. Once they have had their first kill, they want to continue so they find the kill that is as perfect as their fantasy. There is a lengthy list of some of the motivators as to why children abuse animals. Some of these motivators are the children want something to control or retaliate against, to express aggression through an animal.…

    • 2351 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Sociopath Essay

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages

    There are some people, there are varying parts of the spectrum with some people showing minimal tenancies while others act on all tendencies to the extreme. They can also be categorized by the focus of their antisocial behavior. Common Sociopaths are characterized by their lack of conscience, alienated sociopaths are known by their inability to love and to be loved. Aggressive sociopaths follow the others, but also incorporate an of sadistic nature., while dissocial sociopaths have no problem follow rules as long as the rules are wrong rules which would not be acceptable in society. All sociopaths are quite manipulative and gain pleasure from dominating and humiliating their victims who are usually friends, parents, siblings, and partners.…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays