Psychopath and sociopath are often used interchangeably in common speech to describe a person who is pathologically prone to criminal or violent behavior and who lacks any regard for the feelings or interests of others and any feelings of remorse or guilt for his crimes. Although the terms are also used in the scientific literature (including the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM), they are not well defined there; mental health professionals instead prefer to understand both psychopathy and sociopathy as types of antisocial personality disorders (APDs), each condition being distinguished by a few characteristic features but both having many features in common.
Both psychopathy and sociopathy, then, are characterized by an abiding pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, as manifested through three or more of the following habitual or continual behaviors: (1) serious violations of criminal laws; (2) deceitfulness for personal gain or pleasure, including lying, swindling, or trickery; (3) impulsiveness or failure to plan ahead; (4) irritability and aggressiveness often resulting in physical assaults; (5) reckless disregard for the safety of oneself or others; (6) failure to meet important adult responsibilities, including job- and family-related duties and financial obligations; and (7) lack of meaningful remorse or guilt—to the point of complete indifference—regarding the serious harm or distress one’s actions cause other people.
Other characteristics associated with APD are a pronounced lack of empathy; a tendency to be contemptuous of the rights, interests, or feelings of others; and an excessively high self-appraisal—i.e., arrogance, conceitedness, or cockiness.
Psychologists and psychiatrists emphasize that APD cannot be properly diagnosed in children, because it is by definition a condition that abides for many years and because the personalities of children are constantly evolving. Nevertheless, adults who develop APD typically displayed what is called conduct disorder as children, generally characterized by aggressive behavior toward people or animals, destruction of property, deceitfulness or theft, and serious infractions of criminal laws or other norms.
Among persons who display APD, those called psychopaths are distinguished by a nearly complete inability to form genuine emotional attachments to others; a compensating tendency to form artificial and shallow relationships, which the psychopath cynically exploits or manipulates to benefit himself; a corresponding ability to appear glib and even charming to others; an ability in some psychopaths to maintain the appearance of a normal work and family life; and a tendency to carefully plan criminal activities to avoid detection. Sociopaths, in contrast, are generally capable of developing a close attachment to one or a few individuals or groups, though they too generally have severe difficulties in forming relationships. Sociopaths are also usually incapable of anything even remotely resembling a normal work or family life, and, in comparison to psychopaths, they are exceptionally impulsive and erratic and more prone to rage or violent outbursts. Accordingly, their criminal activities tend to be spur-of-the-moment rather than carefully premeditated.
Although both biological and environmental factors play a role in the development of psychopathy and sociopathy, it is generally agreed that psychopathy is chiefly a genetic or inherited condition, notably related to the underdevelopment of parts of the brain responsible for emotional regulation and impulse control. The most-important causes of sociopathy, in contrast, lie in physical or emotional abuse or severe trauma experienced during childhood. To put the matter simplistically, psychopaths are born, and sociopaths are made.
Both psychopathy and sociopathy, and APD generally, share features with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), the condition exhibited by persons commonly called narcissists. Like persons with APD, narcissists generally lack empathy and tend to have unrealistically high opinions of themselves, and, like psychopaths, narcissists tend to form shallow relationships, to exploit and manipulate others, and to be glib and superficially charming. Unlike many persons with APD, however, narcissists are generally not impulsive, aggressive, or habitually deceitful. Nor do they characteristically display conduct disorder during childhood or criminal behavior in adulthood. Narcissists also characteristically manifest a compelling need for the admiration, esteem, or envy of others, a trait not displayed by persons with APD.
Photo credit: Caiaimage/Paul Bradbury
From Men’s Health
“Psychopath” and “sociopath” are popular ways of describing the violent monsters born of our worst nightmares. Think Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, Norman Bates in Psycho, and Annie Wilkes in Misery.
Most of us, fortunately, will never meet a Hannibal Lecter in real life, but psychopaths and sociopaths certainly exist. And they hide among us-sometimes as the most successful people in society because they’re often ruthless, callous, and superficially charming while having little or no regard for the feelings or needs of others.
These are known as “successful” psychopaths, as they have a tendency to perform premeditated crimes with calculated risk. Or they may manipulate someone else into breaking the law, while keeping themselves safely at a distance. They’re master manipulators of other peoples’ feelings, but are unable to experience emotions themselves.
Odds are, you might just know one-at least one. Prevalence rates come in somewhere between 0.2 and 3.3 percent of the population. (If you’re worried about yourself, you can take a quiz to find out, but before you click on that link, let me save you some time: You’re probably not a psychopath or sociopath. If you were, it’s doubtful you’d be interested in taking that personality test. You just wouldn’t be that self-aware or concerned about your character flaws. That’s why both psychopathy and sociopathy are known as anti-social personality disorders, which are long-term mental health conditions.
What’s the difference between a psychopath and a sociopath?
Psychopaths and sociopaths share a number of characteristics, including a lack of remorse or empathy for others, a lack of guilt or ability to take responsibility for their actions, a disregard for laws or social conventions, and an inclination to violence. A core feature of both is a deceitful and manipulative nature. But how can we tell them apart?
Sociopaths are normally less emotionally stable and highly impulsive-their behavior tends to be more erratic than psychopaths. When committing crimes-either violent or non-violent-sociopaths will act more on compulsion. And they will lack patience, giving in much more easily to impulsiveness and lacking detailed planning.
Psychopaths, on the other hand, will plan their crimes down to the smallest detail, taking calculated risks to avoid detection. The smart ones will leave few clues that may lead to being caught. Psychopaths don’t get carried away in the moment and make fewer mistakes as a result.
Both act on a continuum of behaviors, and many psychologists still debate whether the two should be differentiated at all. But for those who do differentiate between the two, one thing is largely agreed upon: psychiatrists use the term psychopathy to illustrate that the cause of the anti-social personality disorder is hereditary. Sociopathy describes behaviors that are the result of a brain injury, or abuse and/or neglect in childhood.
Psychopaths are born and sociopaths are made. In essence, their difference reflects the nature versus nurture debate. There’s a particularly interesting link between serial killers and psychopaths or sociopaths-although, of course, not all psychopaths and sociopaths become serial killers. And not all serial killers are psychopaths or sociopaths.
But America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has noted certain traits shared between known serial killers and these anti-social personality disorders. These include predatory behavior (for instance, Ivan Milat, who hunted and murdered his seven victims); sensation-seeking (think hedonistic killers who murder for excitement or arousal, such as 21-year-old Thomas Hemming who, in 2014, murdered two people just to know what it felt like to kill); lack of remorse; impulsivity; and the need for control or power over others (such as Dennis Rader, an American serial killer who murdered ten people between 1974 and 1991, and became known as the “BTK (bind, torture, kill) killer”).
The Sydney murder of Morgan Huxley by 22-year-old Jack Kelsall, who arguably shows all the hallmarks of a psychopath, highlights the differences between psychopaths and sociopaths.
In 2013, Kelsall followed Huxley home where he indecently assaulted the 31-year-old before stabbing him 28 times. Kelsall showed no remorse for his crime, which was extremely violent and pre-meditated.
Although the murder was frenzied, Kelsall showed patience and planning, leaving little doubt that he’s psychopathic rather than sociopathic. He had followed potential victims before and had shared fantasies he had about murdering a stranger with a knife with his psychiatrist a year before he killed Huxley, allegedly for “the thrill of it”.
Whatever Kelsall’s motive, regardless of whether his dysfunction was born or made, the case stands as an example of the worst possible outcome of an anti-social personality disorder: senseless violence perpetrated against a random victim for self-gratification. Throughout his trial and sentencing, Kelsall showed no sign of remorse, no guilt, and gave no apology.
A textbook psychopath, he would, I believe, have gone on to kill again. In my opinion as a forensic criminology expert-and that of the police who arrested him-Kelsall was a serial killer in the making.
In the end, does the distinction between a psychopath and sociopath matter? They can both be dangerous and even deadly, the worst wreaking havoc with people’s lives. Or they can spend their life among people who are none the wiser for it.
Xanthe Mallett is a senior lecturer in forensic criminology at the University of New England. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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