Sociopath vs. Psychopath: Understanding the Differences

What Are Sociopaths & Psychopaths?

Sociopaths and psychopaths are informal but widely used terms to describe people with more severe forms of antisocial personality disorder. Antisocial traits and tendencies make a person more likely to behave in ways that are “wrong,” illegal, or dangerous.^1,2

The most common traits and symptoms of antisocial personality disorder (APSD) are:^3,4,5,6

• Persistent disregard for rules, laws, and social codes
• Seeming cold, callous, or emotionally detached
• Repeated violations of the rights of others
• Weak conscience or having no remorse for actions
• Inability to empathize or a disregard for others
• Dishonest, deceitful, or manipulative actions
• Having shallow relationships or no close bonds
• A pattern of impulsive, dangerous, or irresponsible decisions
• A tendency to become hostile, angry, or aggressive

Only a small percentage of those diagnosed with ASPD are sociopaths or psychopaths. Of those who are diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, researchers estimate that 30% are sociopaths and 3-15% are psychopaths.^1,2 Because sociopaths and psychopaths are more antisocial and have severe forms of ASPD, they are often dangerous individuals who use, abuse, and harm others.²

Asocial vs. Antisocial

Asocial behaviors differ from antisocial behaviors, and result from social isolation and poor communication and social skills. An asocial person may unknowingly behave in socially unacceptable ways, but an antisocial person does so intentionally. Antisocial people have social skills, and often use them to charm, deceive, and manipulate others.^1,2

Differences Between Psychopaths vs. Sociopaths

While sociopaths and psychopaths both have ASPD, certain traits are more common in psychopaths than in sociopaths. Psychopaths are often able to hide antisocial traits from others. Psychopathy is also believed to be caused by abnormalities in the brain, while sociopathy is believed to develop in response to early childhood experiences.^1,2,5,7

Defining Traits

Here are five defining traits of psychopaths:^1,2,6,7

1. Unemotional and detached: Psychopaths experience a limited range of emotions, so it’s normal for them to appear unemotional, detached, or standoffish
2. Cruel and sadistic: Psychopaths are often described as mean, cruel, and uncaring. Some are also sadistic, meaning they find pleasure in the pain of others.
3. Charming and deceptive: Psychopaths are often pathological liars, masters of deception, and can mimic normal emotions and prosocial behaviors to hide APSD traits
4. Indifferent and uncaring: Psychopaths tend to plan and calculate their actions, but they are mostly indifferent to the consequences or possible harm that may result
5. Fearless and bold: Psychopaths don’t typically experience fear, or at least not to the degree that most people do. This makes them bolder and willing to take risks.

Here are five defining traits of sociopaths:^1,2,6,7

1. Emotionally unstable: Sociopaths are often moody, irritable, and emotionally unstable. They also have less ability to control or regulate their emotions, making them prone to outbursts.
2. Manipulative and exploitive: Sociopaths are often very skilled at manipulating and exploiting others, especially when there is something they stand to gain from doing so
3. Reactive and hostile: Sociopaths are more outwardly hostile, angry, and aggressive, especially when they are upset. While they can seem charming at first, this quickly wears off under pressure.
4. Chaotic and impulsive: Unlike psychopaths, strong urges and emotions drive most antisocial behavior in sociopaths. This creates more chaos, drama, and instability.
5. Distractible and impulsive: Sociopaths often lack goals and direction, get bored or distracted easily, and often give into momentary urges. This can make them more impulsive than psychopaths.

Defining Tendencies

All personality disorders have a list of abnormal traits that define them, but it’s equally important to know how these traits can affect a person’s life, choices, and relationships. Because sociopaths and psychopaths have different kinds of personalities, this can also change the way they think, feel, act, and the way they relate to other people.

Here are five psychopathic tendencies:

1. Remains cool under pressure: In dangerous, scary, or stressful situations, psychopaths may be unusually calm and composed. This is because of abnormalities in their brains that restrict their ability to experience normal fear and stress responses. These are also believed to restrict a psychopath’s ability to experience other emotions like sadness, guilt, shame, and even positive emotions like joy or love.
2. Shallow or non-existent bonds: Psychopaths have little or no interest in developing relationships with people for the sake of connection. Their emotional detachment and lack of empathy make them unable to form deep bonds. When they do form relationships with someone, there is often an ulterior motive. When the person is no longer useful, they won’t hesitate to use, abuse, or discard them.^1,2
3. Can play the long game to get ahead: Psychopaths are less emotional and more calculated, which can be an advantage. They may gain success, wealth, or positions of power by using charm and deceit to get others to do what they want. Overall, psychopaths tend to have more stability and successful careers than sociopaths, despite having a more severe form of ASPD.^1,2,5,7
4. Lacking conscience and morals: Psychopaths are believed to not have a working conscience and are usually indifferent about causing harm to others. They don’t have a moral or ethical code of “right vs. wrong.” This makes them more willing to do things that most consider bad, wrong, or dangerous, even knowing the consequences.^1,2,7
5. More prone to physical violence: People with ASPD are more prone to violence, but psychopaths commit more violent crimes than sociopaths overall.⁷ Their aggressive tendencies usually show up before age ten and may include frequent physical fights or cruelty to animals.⁷ Psychopaths may even feel drawn to violence, finding it exciting or getting some sadistic pleasure from it.²

Here are five sociopathic tendencies:

1. Easily provoked and often defensive: Sociopaths have a narrower range of emotions than normal people but most can still experience a range of emotions.^1,2 In fact, sociopaths can be moody, irritable, and quick to get defensive or lash out at other people when they are stressed, suggesting they experience strong emotions. When they experience emotions like fear, shame, or guilt, they often become angry and defensive to avoid seeming vulnerable.
2. Stormy bonds with select people: Sociopaths may have a few people in their life that they genuinely care about, including close family members or like-minded people who share their interests.¹ While they may want to maintain these relationships, they are often unable to. Their impulsive and hostile nature often means they say or do hurtful things to the people they care about. This means the relationships they maintain are stormy and conflict-ridden.^1,7
3. Self-destructs when urges arise: Sociopaths are known to be more impulsive and emotionally reactive and less able to control their actions. This makes it easier to spot a sociopath, who may be more obviously self-destructive. These self-destructive tendencies make them more likely to experience legal problems and more instability in their personal life, work, finances, and relationships.¹
4. Selective remorse and weak conscience: While a psychopath has no conscience, a sociopath can sometimes feel remorse or guilt after doing something wrong. Usually, a sociopath’s conscience is weak and selectively used when certain things or people they care about are involved. In other situations, they may not feel guilty or bypass these feelings by making excuses, exceptions, or blaming others.^1,7
5. More prone to interpersonal violence: Some sociopaths are physically aggressive, abusive, or violent, but others use different tactics to cause harm. For example, they may use manipulation, gaslighting, or other forms of emotional abuse as their primary methods of hurting people.¹ While they are less likely to be sadistic, they may still find it entertaining or exciting to cause drama, chaos, or confusion.

Crime & Violence

Not all sociopaths and psychopaths commit crimes or become violent, but a disproportionate number of them do. Psychopaths are more likely to commit crimes, including violent crimes. For example, psychopaths make up only 1% of the general population, but account for 20-30% of the prison population in North America.^1,2,7

The reasons for committing crimes can also be different for sociopaths vs. psychopaths. Sociopaths may commit “crimes of passion” that stem from jealousy, anger, or revenge, rather than the cold-blooded, sadistic, or calculated crimes of a psychopath.^2,7 Psychopaths are also much more likely to be repeat offenders of violent crime and commit many offenses in their lifetime.^6,7

Sociopathy & Psychopathy in Men vs. Women

According to research, 3% of men and only 1% of women have antisocial personality disorder, and men are twice as likely to develop ASPD.^1,4,5 It is likely that this figure is underreported; APSD traits may just show up differently in women (ie female psychopaths tend to be more social and emotional than their male counterparts). There hasn’t been enough research to fully understand these differences.¹

Causes of Psychopathy vs. Sociopathy

Psychopaths are believed to be born with certain genetic or neurological abnormalities that cause them to develop ASPD.^1,2,5,7This may also explain why they display more antisocial traits and behaviors in early childhood, while the typical onset for a sociopath may be several years later.^1,5

Certain environmental or social triggers can further increase the risk for ASPD, but genes and biology play a major role in determining who becomes a psychopath. Sociopaths are believed to develop ASPD in response to specific early childhood experiences like poor or neglectful parenting, a lack of early attachments, and experiencing trauma at a young age.^1,2,5,7

Diagnosing Sociopaths & Psychopaths

There isn’t a formal diagnosis of a sociopath or a psychopath, but many experts believe that these are more severe forms of antisocial personality disorder with distinct differences.^1,2,5,6,7 Antisocial personality disorder can only be diagnosed by a licensed health or mental health provider. This usually happens during the first appointment with a therapist.

During this assessment, a therapist will ask questions about symptoms, traits, and behaviors to confirm a diagnosis of APSD, as well as any other mental health conditions. Many psychopaths and sociopaths have narcissistic personality disorder (narcissistic sociopaths can be particularly difficult to deal with), impulse control disorders, ADHD, substance use disorders, or other types of mental illnesses.^3,4,5,6

Diagnosing Child Sociopaths & Psychopaths

ASPD can only be diagnosed after age eighteen, even though it’s common for antisocial traits and behaviors to present in childhood or adolescence.^1,2,4,7 Many antisocial symptoms are diagnosed as conduct disorder in children and teens. Symptoms are similar to ASPD and include behavior problems, aggression, and impulsivity. If these problems persist, it’s common for the diagnosis of conduct disorder to become antisocial personality disorder.⁴

Treatment for Sociopaths & Psychopaths

ASPD is widely considered one of the most difficult disorders to treat. Because sociopaths and psychopaths have more severe forms of the condition, they often don’t respond well to therapy or other treatments. Their antisocial traits make them less likely to seek treatment on their own and can interfere with treatment when it’s mandated or required.^1,2,5,7

Of the two, research shows that sociopaths are more likely to benefit from treatment. Psychopaths rarely make lasting changes, and some even get worse after treatment.^6,7 Still, no one is completely beyond hope, especially if they have a true desire to change.

There is evidence that some people with APSD improved through a combination of medication and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).³ Many people begin their search for a therapist by using a free online directory that allows users to find a therapist with specialized knowledge or training in personality disorders.

Dating a Sociopath or Psychopath

Because sociopaths and psychopaths don’t have the social and emotional skills to relate, connect, and maintain healthy bonds with others, they usually aren’t healthy romantic partners. While it may be possible to seek couples counseling for specific relationship problems, people with ASPD may not be motivated to change or improve themselves or their relationships, so dating a sociopath or psychopath is not advised and may end in trauma or emotional abuse.

Final Thoughts

Sociopaths and psychopaths both display signs, symptoms, and traits of antisocial personality disorder, a serious disorder closely linked to crime, violence, and other harmful behaviors. Knowing the common traits and tendencies of APSD can help you identify the signs of a sociopath or psychopath early. Avoiding close relationships with these individuals is recommended, since they’re more likely to behave in violent or abusive ways.