The 14 traits of sociopathic people

Do you know what a sociopathic person is? Perhaps you have heard of this term at some point. When we hear this word, we can think of cold people, lacking in empathy and sensitivity, manipulative ...

And we are not on the wrong track. These and some more are traits of sociopathic people. In this article, specifically, we will know the 14 traits of sociopathic people that appear most frequently. Before, however, we are going to see what sociopathy consists of.

• Recommended article: "What are the 8 differences between Psychopathy and Sociopathy?"

What is sociopathy?

Sociopathy is classified as such in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders) as an antisocial personality disorder. A personality disorder, of whatever type, carries a cognitive, relational and behavioral pattern dysfunctional, which makes it difficult to adapt to life, in addition to functional impairment and / or discomfort for the individual.

In the case of antisocial personality disorder, this pattern is characterized by seeking the violation of the rights of others, as well as their exploitation and manipulation

. That is, sociopaths are people who manipulate and who can attack or harm without feeling the slightest remorse.

But we must not link sociopaths directly to murderers or rapists, for example, since not all sociopaths are (nor are all murderers or rapists sociopaths). That is, we must be careful in this regard. However, if the sociopathy is serious and the person cannot adapt to life, he or she can commit serious criminal acts.

• It may interest you: "How to know if your boss is a psychopath (and survive it)"

14 traits and habits of sociopathic people

After defining, roughly, what a sociopathic person is like, we are going to know the 14 traits of sociopathic people. These traits refer to different spheres of the personality, such as cognition, affectivity, interpersonal relationships ...

1. Suspicion and mistrust

On a cognitive and behavioral level, sociopathic people show suspicion and distrust of messages that are not in line with their own interests. This suspicion can even turn into a paranoid thought.

Thus, they easily distrust the actions of others, and their thinking is often especially suspicious.

2. Affective lability

Affective lability is another characteristic feature of sociopathic people, corresponding to the affective sphere. Affective lability implies that the patient changes his affective expression quickly, for example going from laughing to crying in a matter of seconds or minutes.

3. Lack of empathy

Continuing with the affective sphere, the next feature of sociopathy refers to empathy; thus, this type of patients present its absence. Thus, it is impossible for them to put themselves in the place of others (for example, feeling their pain or sharing their happiness).

4. Egocentrism

Another feature of sociopathic people is their egocentricity. They are people who focus on themselves, and who find it difficult to shift their focus to others. On the other hand, others only care about the benefits they can get from them.

5. Manipulation and charm

At the relational level, sociopathic people manifest manipulative behaviors towards others. They manipulate people through deception and lies, mainly.

On the other hand, they are charming to get what they want; They appear to be kind and friendly and adapt to situations according to their interests.

6. Avoidance of social contact

In general, sociopathic people are people with poor socialization. In extreme cases, sociopaths may even shy away from social contact. If they do not avoid it, they present difficulties in establishing and maintaining stable relationships, as we will see later.

7. Use of defense mechanisms

Another characteristic feature of these people is that they present certain defense mechanisms, such as denial, projection, fantasy or rejection. These mechanisms help them to commit their criminal acts or abuse towards others without feeling remorse or guilt.

8. Marked cruelty

In the field of interpersonal relationships, sociopathic people can behave very cruelly towards others, that is, extremely ruthless. They act without compassion, and generally have no hard feelings after their actions.

In this way, they may have done a lot of harm to someone (reaching extreme cases of rape, murder ...) and not feel guilty about it.

9. Interpersonal relationships: lack of stability

Another feature of sociopathic people is their lack of stability in interpersonal relationships; that is, they do not usually have stable friendship or partner relationships because they have great difficulty (or inability) to really connect with people.

In this way, their relationships are rather superficial (and if they are "deep", they are probably acting). In addition, as we have already said, they see others as a source of satisfaction of their own needs, not as nothing else.

10. Immersion in a world of self-deception

As we have seen, sociopathic people use lies as one of their main tools to manipulate others. In addition, but, they can also lie to themselves. This immersion in a world of self-deception makes them especially vulnerable.

11. Absence of fear

It is difficult for a sociopathic person to experience real fear. This is extrapolated even to high-risk situations, where your life is in danger. That is, your perception of fear is absent.

12. Emotional coldness

They are people who present emotional coldness; This helps them calculate, plan and execute their plans without being influenced by emotions. That is to say, reason always prevails.

13. Good intelligence

The next of the traits of sociopathic people is their intelligence. They are generally very intelligent people. In addition, they have good mental agility. These are some of the reasons why at work level they can do very well (in business, for example), obtaining great success in this regard.

On the other hand, once again, they use this intelligence to manipulate others and to get what they want.

14. Verbal skills and persuasion

They are people with good verbal skills and great persuasiveness. This makes it easy for them to manipulate others without them noticing, appearing charming. Also, they know what they have to say, when and to whom, to get what they want.

In the workplace it can help them a lot as well (and economically), since thanks to their “lip” they can create a powerful network of contacts.

Bibliographic references

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

• Belloch, A., Sandín, B. and Ramos, F. (2010). Manual of Psychopathology. Volume I and II. Madrid: McGraw-Hill.

• Sirvent, C. (2007). Acquired sociopathy. Spanish Journal of Drug Addiction, 32 (3): 310-341.

• Soler, C.L. and López, J.R.L. (2003). Personality traits and criminal antisocial behavior. Legal and Forensic Clinical Psychopathology, 3 (2): 5-19.