Similarities/Differences between a Sociopath and Psycopath?
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Psychopath was a medical disorder that was created while looking at incarcerated criminals. The attributes include:
– lack of empathy
– disregard for consequences
– promiscuity
– glibness/superficial charm
Sociopath was never a medical diagnosis, but means basically the same thing in lay terms, with special emphasis on lack of empathy. In common parlance, “psychopath” has been more often used for psychotic behavior.
The similarity is that both words refer to a behavioral/emotional *pathology*: an aberrant (unusual and harmful) personality. The difference is that a sociopath is socially pathological (lacking any compassion) while a psychopath is delusional (“psychotic” or ‘insane’). Both are obsolete in psychology, psychiatry, and medicine, and neither is used very rigorously or accurately in daily life. Most experts would prefer they not be used at all, although they did once supposedly have clinical meaning. In that way, they are similar to terms like “moron” and “retarded”, and have become generic insults due to *postmodern over-synonimizatiom*, where words are simply reduced to substitutes for “good” or “bad” according to the preferences of the speaker.
The similarity is that both words refer to a behavioral/emotional *pathology*: an aberrant (unusual and harmful) personality. The difference is that a sociopath is socially pathological (lacking any compassion) while a psychopath is delusional (“psychotic” or ‘insane’). Both are obsolete in psychology, psychiatry, and medicine, and neither is used very rigorously or accurately in daily life. Most experts would prefer they not be used at all, although they did once supposedly have clinical meaning. In that way, they are similar to terms like “moron” and “retarded”, and have become generic insults due to *postmodern over-synonimizatiom*, where words are simply reduced to substitutes for “good” or “bad” according to the preferences of the speaker.
The similarity is that both words refer to a behavioral/emotional *pathology*: an aberrant (unusual and harmful) personality. The difference is that a sociopath is socially pathological (lacking any compassion) while a psychopath is delusional (“psychotic” or ‘insane’). Both are obsolete in psychology, psychiatry, and medicine, and neither is used very rigorously or accurately in daily life. Most experts would prefer they not be used at all, although they did once supposedly have clinical meaning. In that way, they are similar to terms like “moron” and “retarded”, and have become generic insults due to *postmodern over-synonimizatiom*, where words are simply reduced to substitutes for “good” or “bad” according to the preferences of the speaker.
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