DIFFERENCES between PSYCHOPATH and SOCIOPATHY

We commonly mention the terms of psychopath Y sociopath To refer to the same pathology, this is a mistake that society in general makes very often. The reason is that, although they do have many similarities, they are two different conditions and it is worth knowing their differences.

In this Psychology-Online article, we are going to let you know what the differences between psychopath and sociopath as well as we will also provide you with information about what exactly the characteristics of each of them are.

Index

1. Characteristics of a psychopath
2. Characteristics of a sociopath
3. 4 Differences between psychopath and sociopath
4. Similarities Between Sociopaths and Psychopaths

There are a series of characteristics or symptoms that a person presents with a mental disorder such as psychopathy that undoubtedly can serve as a guide to identify it.

• Handling. They use manipulation all the time to achieve their own goals, pretending that they are really caring about the other person. That is why they tend to relate more to submissive people who they can manipulate more easily. In this article you can see
  what are manipulative people.
• Lack of empathy. They are not able to empathize with another person and / or animal. They are people who totally lack empathy and that is why they only care about themselves. They are cold and calculating, since lacking empathy, they do not mind hurting others in order to get what they want.
• Lack of regrets. They will never experience emotions such as guilt or fear since they do not have a moral conscience and govern solely on the basis of what they need and want so they will try to achieve it at all coast. They have no regrets so if they act badly hurting others they will never regret it or feel bad about it.
• Job success. They tend to have good jobs and hold senior positions. They are usually quite intelligent and planners.
• Tranquility. They are generally very meticulous and calm.
• Superficial charm. They may seem charming to other people, but that charm is always going to be superficial since it is used for the sole purpose of getting what they want. That is, it is related to manipulation.
• Inability to bond deeper in the long run. For example, they will never be able to keep the same group of friends for life, or have a lasting relationship. Find out here if a psychopath can fall in love or not.

Before talking about the differences between psychopath and sociopath, let's see what sociopathy is and the characteristics of a sociopath. Among the main personality characteristics of a sociopath on which we can base ourselves to more easily identify her pathology, are the following:

• Impulsiveness. Sociopaths are generally quite impulsive. They don't usually plan the things they do.
• Ability to establish links. Although they tend to lack empathy for most people, they can establish closer interpersonal bonds with certain people. In this article we explain whether a sociopath can love or not.
• Irresponsibility. They are irresponsible and find it difficult to comply with laws and regulations.
• Emotional instability. Psychopaths have very little emotional stability.
• Isolation. Sometimes they can become totally isolated from other people.
• Troubled childhood. They were brought up with an inefficient parenting style on the part of their parents.
• Non-normative conduct. It is not so easy for them to go unnoticed as they are considered "rare" by society. In this article you will find information about how to treat a sociopath.

If you identify with the symptoms, you can do the sociopathy test.

Next, we are going to mention the differences between psychopath and sociopath so that you can better understand these two disorders. Let's look at sociopath vs psychopath point by point:

1. Planning / impulsiveness

• The psychopaths Unlike sociopaths, they are quite planners, so they do not usually act on impulse, they prefer to first establish a series of strategies To carry out their objective, they can, for example, have a plan b always at hand so that they are less likely to fail when trying to achieve what they want.
• On the other hand, sociopaths are more impulsive and being quite emotionally unstable, they do not know how to control, they allow themselves to be dominated by their emotions and this causes that when they do something they have a greater chance of failing in the attempt.

2. External perception

• The psychopaths unlike sociopaths they tend to go unnoticed by society, since being much more manipulative, to the degree of appearing charming, they can be seen as "normal" people.
• The opposite of sociopath, which is generally perceived by others as a somewhat strange.

3. Cause

• Another difference between sociopath and psychopath is the main cause at the base of each of the disorders. The causes of psychopathy they are generally of biological origin.
• Of the sociopathy due to a style of negligent parenting by parents.

4. Relationships

• Psychopaths totally lack empathy and are unable to establish interpersonal relationships deeper and more durable.
• While sociopaths can do it, but only with certain people.

You can see the differences between sociopath and psychopath in the sharing box that you will find at the beginning of the article.

The main and most obvious similarities between sociopaths and psychopaths is that they both show a rejection of the values ​​and rights of other people. We are talking about highly manipulative people who do not care at all about well-being of others and are capable of harming whoever stands in their way to be able to fulfill their objectives.

Sounds pretty creepy doesn't it? Although most of the people who suffer from any of these diseases do not appear exactly as in the movies, there are also some cases in which reality can even surpass fiction although they are less common.

In most cases, sociopaths, but especially psychopaths, can go unnoticed in society since not everyone is violent.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Differences between psychopath and sociopath, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

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• Prado, B. C. (2019). Perverse psychopaths, sociopaths and narcissists in police literature. In Black gender without limits (pp. 243-251). Andavira.
• Rámperez Alcolea, F. (2004). Psychology and sociopathy, according to Michiel Foucault.