How do you differentiate between a sociopath and a psychopath?
Share
Sign Up to our social questions and Answers Engine to ask questions, answer people's questions, and connect with other people.
Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and will create a new password via email.
Please briefly explain why you feel this question should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this answer should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this user should be reported.
How do you differentiate between a sociopath and a psychopath?
Psychopathy means that a person is unable to feel fear or empathy. Sociopathy means that a person manipulates others for their own gains. The two often co-occur, but are technically independent of each other. It should be noted that being a psychopath does not make you into a bad person. Psychopathy is common among surgeons. Certainly, they help people on a daily basis, but being unable to experience fear or empathy will keep them from getting emotionally attached to their patient.
Psychopaths are born with temperamental differences such as impulsivity, cortical underarousal, and fearlessness that lead them to risk-seeking behavior and an inability to internalize social norms. On the other hand, sociopaths have relatively normal temperaments; their personality disorder being more an effect of negative sociological factors like parental neglect, delinquent peers, poverty, and extremely low or extremely high intelligence.