Psychopathy is a personality disorder signified by a pattern of lying, exploitiveness, heedlessness, arrogance, sexual promiscuity, low self-control, and lack of empathy and remorse. Those who are affected may appear normal thus increasing their ability to effectively prey on others. Psychopaths will revert to threats and violence to achieve control.
People severely affected with psychopathy have a false belief in their own superiority, a sense of entitlement and a complete disregard for social norms. They therefore leave a long trail of victims and survivors over the course of living their lives. Their victims include strangers, friends, lovers, co-workers and family members.
Unable to love, feel remorse or show any trace of guilt, they survive by charming, conning and manipulating others. Because they are impulsive and do things that hurt other people with no conscience or empathy, psychopathic individuals are also called "antisocial" by mental health professionals.
Psychopathy is very costly to society. The disorder is responsible for much human suffering. The disordered person, his/her family and nearly everyone he/she contacts is affected. They have no sense of personal boundaries, frequently abusive and going into rages.
Sociopathy vs Psychopathy
Psychopathy and sociopathy are both anti-social personality disorders. While both these disorders are the result of an interaction between genetic predispositions and environmental factors, psychopathy leans towards the hereditary whereas sociopathy tends towards the environmental. This is part of the debate between nature vs nurture amongst psychologists.
Recent research suggests increased evidence of biological components in psychopathology – the reduction of mirror neurons in the part of the brain responsible for empathy and emotions. In other words, lack of empathy and “coldness” can be passed on from parent to child.
Psychopaths have temperamental differences such as impulsivity, cortical underarousal, and fearlessness that lead them to risk-seeking behavior and an inability to internalise social norms. Their tendency to aggressiveness and violence sets them apart from sociopaths or narcissists.
Sociopaths, on the other hand, have relatively normal temperaments; their personality disorder being more an effect of environmental influences such as parental neglect, delinquent peers, poverty, and extremely low or extremely high intelligence and even jealousy of other's social status or material assets. They are more calculating, planning their next move, whereas the psychopath is more impulsive.
For most, psychopaths and sociopaths are the same. They both lack emotional empathy, and are chronic liars and manipulators. Where it matters most is in criminology where psychopaths are considered untreatable whereas sociopaths, treatable, and a victim of their environmental upbringing as an excuse for antisocial behaviour.
In the Workplace:
Sociopaths/psychopaths are high-performing superstars, using their carisma, charm, and conning to ingratiate themselves with the right people to climb the social or work ladder. Then, protect their position by ruthlessly targeting any threat. They will not stop until they have torn their target down, with accusations, lies, threats, blame and more, without empathy for any collateral damage.