# Psychopath? Sociopath? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 8, 2002, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889 "2002-08-08T01:15:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/1 "2002-08-08T01:15:51Z")
The voices in my head are giving me all kinds of contradictory opinions, and I’ve not yet been able to find a simple on-line definition, so what ARE the defined differences between a psychopath and a sociopath, if any? ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/2 "2002-08-08T01:35:31Z")
I was wondering the same thing myself the other day. [Merriam-Webster](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary) has them as synonymous. Any psychologists out there care to tell us if there’s a nuance? The term “psychopath” seems to have been adopted by Hollywood with certain connotations. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/3 "2002-08-08T01:38:35Z")
DSM-4 combines these into one disorder: antisocial personality disorder. The essential feature of this disorder is a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others. This pattern has also been referred to as pscyhopathy, sociopathy, or dyssocial personality disorder. So, to answer your question, there is no difference. Once upon a time, a difference was made, but I don’t remember it and it is no longer applicable. ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/4 "2002-08-08T01:46:50Z")
If a psychopath kills and eats you he might feel sorry about it later. If a sociopath kills you he won’t ever be sorry but he probably won’t eat you. ---
**Author:** ![Motog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Motog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motog)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/5 "2002-08-08T02:13:03Z")
From: [http://www.mentalhealth.org/features/surgeongeneralreport/chapter4/sec1.asp](http://www.mentalhealth.org/features/surgeongeneralreport/chapter4/sec1.asp) (full definition is the last item at the bottom of the page). “Sociopathy is characterized by a tendency and ability to disregard laws and rules, difficulties reciprocating within empathic and intimate relationships, less internalization of moral standards (i.e., a weaker conscience or superego), and an insensitivity to the needs and rights of others.” All the definitions seem to say the two pathologies are synonomous ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/6 "2002-08-08T02:13:15Z")
AFAIK, the the term _sociopath_ is used because _psychopath_ is associated with horror movie villains like Michael Myers and Norman Bates. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/7 "2002-08-08T02:42:58Z")
My understanding of the difference was that a sociopath has no particular conscience to speak of whereas a psychopath has no particular conscience to speak of, and is violent. However, I can’t recall where I read this. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/8 "2002-08-08T02:49:46Z")
Both tend to be violent. DSM-4, the manual psychiatrists use, does not allow for a distinction, giving the terms I used above. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/9 "2002-08-08T03:00:14Z")
You’re right - the **DSM4** doesn’t make a distinction. That doesn’t mean that psychiatrists/psychologists don’t make a distinction in their everyday parlance. ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/10 "2002-08-08T03:01:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tcburnett \* > \*\*If a psychopath kills and eats you he might feel sorry about it later. If a sociopath kills you he won’t ever be sorry but he probably won’t eat you. \*\* **tcburnett** , that was a rare gem. Keep up the good work. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/11 "2002-08-08T03:08:41Z")
It’s my distinct impression that both terms are not so commonly used in nontechnical discussion as they used to be. Forty or fifty years ago they were more common in loose, nonrigorous discussion than they are now. The problem was that they both began to be used in ways that were too vague to be meaningful. “Psychopath” began to be used for any psychiatric disorder which results in violence. “Sociopath” began to be used not just for someone who refuses to accept any moral code whatsoever, but for someone who offends against any single element of some particular moral code. When a word begins to be used in too general and vague a way, it soon drops out of use because it’s no longer specific enough to have a clear meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/12 "2002-08-08T03:42:08Z")
A while back I read about sociopathic bosses. I don’t recall the original article, but here is one I found about workplace bullies: [http://www.worktrauma.org/change.htm](http://www.worktrauma.org/change.htm) Another: [http://www.successunlimited.co.uk/bully/case8.htm](http://www.successunlimited.co.uk/bully/case8.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Mirage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mirage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirage)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/13 "2002-08-08T05:31:38Z")
I don’t have my Abnormal Psychology book in front of me so I can’t give you the cites, but I remember that the term Psychopath was used initially. When the popular connotation of the word began to refer to a person of extreme psychopathic tendencies; the people who committed terrible acts both in real life and in fiction, the term sociopath was adopted as a more professional name for the condition, applicable to the other 99% of those affected. Even now the word ‘sociopath’ has gained a certain evil flare (Dr. Chilton refers to Hannibal Lector as a ‘perfect sociopath’ in The Silence of the Lambs). The DSM-IV calls it Antisocial Personality Disorder, as **barbitu8** mentioned. Now that it’s a real mouthful so I doubt that we’ll have to change it in 30 years because the news media and pulp fiction have turned it into a buzz-word for the criminally insane. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/14 "2002-08-08T06:04:26Z")
My impression always was that a psychopath was someone who comitted acts of extream violence for no reason a sane person would understand. Weird, ritualistic murders would be typical. Whereas a sociopath was basically a person with no conscience; a person who could kill causually, for trivial reasons, and never feel the slightest remorse. A person who lacked normal human feelings, but could fake them convincingly, and who believed that everyone else was faking, too. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/15 "2002-08-08T06:53:12Z")
No conscience. No empathy. No guilt. No worry. No restraint. In a way, they don’t even realize other people even _exist._ Like we are all just paperboard cutouts which revolve around the perpetrators. ---
**Author:** ![auliya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90db22/32.png) [@auliya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auliya)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/16 "2002-08-08T06:58:50Z")
According to Bartol (Criminal Behaviour, A psychosocial approach, 1995) ‘psychopath’ was used from 1913 to 1930, then someone proposed the term sociopath,as he considered the disorder to be more of a social maladjustment. In 1952 the APA dropped psychopath and adopted sociopath (“sociopathic personality disturbance, antisocial reaction”) In 1968 the DSM III changed it to “personality disorder, antisocial,” and allied it closely with persistent criminality. Bartol (1995) says that purists consider sociopaths to be habitual criminal offenders who fail to learn from experience; psychopaths may not be criminal, aren’t neurotic, psychotic or emotionally disturbed; and have a distinct personality profile charactersied by failure to adhere to social norms, impulsivity and lack of remorse There is a lot of overlap and disagreement in the definitions, but neither condition is pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/17 "2002-08-08T11:38:34Z")
I second Stockton who seconded tcburnett. And that was elegantly put. ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/18 "2002-08-08T12:17:53Z")
Can’t remember where, but a long time ago I read that the difference between the two is that the psychopath can be sent into an unthinking rage by anything that annoys them and is usually relatively easy to catch because they’re likely to rampage in public, whereas the sociopath is usually meticulous and can get away with their crimes for much longer periods of time. ---
**Author:** ![smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smoke)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/19 "2002-08-08T13:00:08Z")
The explanation we got in high school psych class (which is obviously going have its limitations) was, at its simplest levels, a sociopath has complete disregard for others and for the mores of society, but **understands** that they exist, and what they are. A psychopath has no such understanding. The psychopath lives according to his own set of rules, which may be unknown, and difficult, if not impossible to make any sense of. In effect, the psychopath lives in his own “world”. Sorry if this is too “armchair psychologist” for GQ. -j ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2002, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889/20 "2002-08-08T15:28:58Z")
The way I’ve always seen it, sociopaths are not insane at all - in fact, they may be _too_ sane. If a sociopath wants to so something, he does it, and he doesn’t let any human emotional and societal complications get in his way. This is, of course, logical behaviour. If you’d develop an AI computer and gave it the basic order stating “do whatever is neccessary for your own good”, it would behave in a perfectly sociopathic manner. The mentally disturbed are overly complicated human beings. Sociopaths, OTOH, are too simple - they are less than human. if by “human” you mean the enormously complex web of needs, emotions and morals which make up our inner lives. As for psychopaths, well, to me they’re just insane sociopaths - sociopaths with illogical needs. That’s how you have a psychopath like Jeffery Dahmer, who needed to eat human beings (an illogical action); versus a sociopath like Josef Stalin, who wanted to rule the world (which is perfectly normal). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-sociopath/122889.md?page=2)