How do you differentiate between a sociopath and a psychopath?
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How do you differentiate between a sociopath and a psychopath?
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.
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.