Do you have an exalted sense of self? Are you a compulsive liar? Would you do just about anything to get you
want? If you answered “yes” to all of these
questions, you might want to consult a professional who can determine if you are a sociopath or
a psychopath. Both sociopaths and psychopaths share three
common traits suggested by the questions above – conceitedness, deceitfulness, and manipulation
largely unchecked by moral conscience. Some experts think sociopathy and psychopathy
are the same and group them together under the diagnostic term antisocial personality
disorder or APD, while others argue that there are significant differences between the two
mental disorders. We will examine some of these differences
in this episode of The Infographics Show, “Sociopath vs. Psychopath.” The outward behavior that sociopaths and psychopaths
display can be as different as night and day. Sociopaths are more impulsive and irresponsible
than psychopaths. As psychologist Scott Bonn notes, sociopaths
tend to “live on the fringes of society.” They often can’t hold down a job for long
and can’t settle down in one place. They may travel extensively, but they are
not sightseers. If they can’t find a legitimate work to
pay for whatever they need, they may do shady things like lie, cheat, and steal from people
along the way. Renowned con man Charles Ponzi lived in this
manner. Ponzi immigrated from Italy to America in
1903. He supposedly said, “I landed in this country
with $2.50 in cash and $1 million in hopes, and those hopes never left me.” According to the New England Historical Society,
$2.50 was all that he had left after “having gambled and drunk away” most of the $200
he had with him while on board the ship taking him to America. After arriving in Boston, he spent several
years “working odd jobs in the Northeast.” Described by one article as an “alleged
sociopath,” he led a “life of lies” that “was all about tricking rich people
into investing in sham corporations.” His International Reply Coupon scheme was
the one where he used money from investors to pay other investors, a form of fraud that
became known as the Ponzi scheme. According to biography.com, Ponzi spent 14
years in prison for this crime. He was deported to Italy after being released
from prison and ended up dying in Rio de Janeiro in 1949. In contrast, psychopaths have more self-control
and are more calculating than sociopaths. They blend into society more effectively than
sociopaths because, as Bonn points out, they are “often well educated and hold steady
jobs.” Not all psychopaths are violent or a threat
to society, and some manage to channel their need to control others into gainful employment. They gravitate toward positions of authority
and jobs requiring objective analysis and decision-making. According to a Time article, some professions
with the most psychopaths include CEOs, lawyers, surgeons, and police officers. Oddly enough, chefs and salespeople also made
the list. Sociopaths have a slight edge over psychopaths
when it comes to establishing meaningful relationships. According to Bonn, “it is difficult but
not impossible for sociopaths to form attachments with others.” They are “capable of empathy in certain
limited circumstances but not in others” and “with a few individuals but not others.” Gary Ridgway is a good example of the sociopath’s
“limited” ability to feel empathy and form emotional attachments. Between 1982 and 2001, he “murdered at least
49 women in Washington state,” according to biography.com. One article reports that his victims were
prostitutes and young runaways. After killing them, Ridgway “often returned
to his dumping grounds to have sex with his victims’ corpses.” He also dumped some of their bodies in the
Green River, which earned him the name of the Green River Killer. While Ridgway committed four of these horrible
crimes, he was married to his third wife, Judith Ridgway. Although he targeted prostitutes because of
his “hate” for them, he loved his wife and had a good relationship with her. In an interview six years after her husband
went to prison, Judith Ridgway still had trouble believing that her husband was a serial killer. She described their life together as “loving”
and “content.” She said, “He made me feel like a newlywed
every day.” However, she had to face the truth about what
her husband had done after she and the police discovered evidence linking him to some of
the murdered prostitutes. She divorced Gary Ridgway after 16 years of
marriage and has no contact with him today. She told the interviewer, “I loved the man
I knew, and I hate the man who took him away.” In contrast, psychopaths are “unable to
form emotional attachments or feel real empathy with others” according to Bonn. Emotions are foreign to them. They know they should be feeling something,
but they don’t feel anything. In his 1941 book called The Mask of Sanity,
a psychiatrist named Hervey Cleckley provided some insight into the mind of the psychopath
when he wrote that “Beauty and ugliness, except in a very superficial sense, goodness,
evil, love, horror, and humor have no actual meaning, no power to move him.” This makes psychopaths capable of hurting
others without any guilt or remorse. Bonn states that psychopathy is the “most
dangerous of all antisocial behaviors” because psychopaths can “dissociate emotionally
from their actions, regardless of how terrible those actions may be.” Psychopaths try to compensate for this impairment
by being what a WebMD article calls “skilled actors.” They are charming and persuasive, and they
are capable of faking emotions they can’t feel. Notorious cult leader Jim Jones revealed his
psychopathic mission to play whatever role was necessary to win trust and manipulate
others when he said, “What you need to believe in is what you can see . . . If you see me
as your friend, I’ll be your friend. If you see me as your father, I’ll be your
father, for those of you that don’t have a father . . . If you see me as your savior,
I’ll be your savior. If you see me as your God, I’ll be your
God.” A skilled orator, Jones combined idealistic
rhetoric and overt and subtle coercion to condition his followers to commit suicide
by drinking a Kool-Aid type drink laced with cyanide and Valium upon his command according
to biography.com. Another way psychopaths attempt to relate
to others is to create a veneer of social respectability to hide their dark side and
any sinister behavior resulting from it. This is an especially common strategy of psychopathic
serial killers like John Wayne Gacy. A summary of his court case noted his “double
life”: “Evidence showed that the defendant led
a double life, engaging in charitable and political activities at the same time he was
committing a series of sadistic torture murders. He enticed many young men to his home for
homosexual liaisons, tying or handcuffing his partners then strangling or choking them. Gacy was a successful contractor, was active
in the community, and often dressed up as a clown for parties . . .” Bonn states that different factors cause people
to become sociopaths and psychopaths. Some researchers think that sociopathy arises
from childhood abuse and trauma. It is a “learned” behavior arising from
circumstance. This is why sociopaths still maintain some
moral conscience, some empathy, and some ability to form emotional attachments, although they
are all weak. However, research suggests that psychopathy
has a largely genetic component to it. Bonn notes that psychopathy “is related
to a physiological defect that results in the underdevelopment of the part of the brain
responsible for impulse control and emotions.” Another report states that “brain scans
of people with APD have shown low activity in areas related to empathy, morality, and
self-control.” According to a Psychologia, sociopaths make
up 4% of the general population, while psychopaths make up about 1%. However, these percentages are equivalent
to millions of people, so it is quite possible that you might meet a sociopath or psychopath
one day. Have you ever met a sociopath or psychopath? What was this person like? Let us know in the comments! Also, be sure to check out our other video
called Signs That YOU Are A Genius! Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t
forget to like, share, and subscribe. See you next time!
Psychopaths are better at trolling libtards 😎😎😎