Blog #5: How are psychopaths and sociopaths genetically similar/ different? 

How are psychopaths and sociopaths genetically similar/ differernt?

After explaining what psychopaths and sociopaths are, as well as their pattern of behaviour, to answer my inquiry question, it’s time to discuss the similarity and differences, and their impact on the community.

People often misuse the word “psychopath” and “sociopath”, thinking they’re interchangeable. They often are used to describe someone with anger issues too. (1) People exhibit the symptoms of antisocial personality disorder, a type of personality disorder. Psychopaths and sociopaths are non-diagnostic conditions. Sociopaths is an unofficial term to refer to a person with ASPD, while psychopath is an informal way of describing one who displays psychopathic traits (2). While they’re both people with little to no conscience (3), they do have a significant difference: (3)

Both personality disorders can occur due to a combination of genetics and environments (2), while there is no cure for the conditions, we know that they are somewhat genetically linked. (3).

There is an overlapping construct (4) of both psychopathy and sociopathy from evolutionary, genetics, neurological and sociological perspectives. It’s generally recognized that psychopathy is a genetically inherited condition related to the (5) underdevelopment of the parts of our brain responsible for emotional regulation and impulse control. The major cause of sociopathy is both emotional and physical abuse, specifically the trauma they cause. In a 2017 (6) study, researchers found that there’s a notably different structure in the white matter in the brains of people with psychopathy and sociopathy. White matter is brian tissue made of nerve fibre that regulates communication. (7)

Psychopathy leans towards the genetic sides while sociopathy are more of a trauma cause. They’re both classified as an Antisocial Personality Disorder, but to simply put, sociopaths are made while psychopaths are born. It’s clear that they both have biological factors contributing to the cause, but it is proven that psychopathy can be inherited while sociopaths are made due to external factors. I hope you learnt something new from my posts!

Renton, C. (2021, October 29). Sociopath vs. psychopath: Characteristics and differences. Verywell Health. Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://www.verywellhealth.com/sociopath-vs-psychopath-characteristics-and-differences-5193369.

MediLexicon International. (n.d.). Psychopath vs. sociopath: How do they differ? Medical News Today. Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/psychopath-vs-sociopath#summary.

Purse, M. (2020, June 15). How sociopaths are different from psychopaths. Verywell Mind. Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-sociopath-380184.

Differentiating antisocial personality disorder, psychopathy, and sociopathy: Evolutionary, genetic, neurological, and sociological considerations. Taylor & Francis. (n.d.). Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14786010802159814?scroll=top&needAccess=true.

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). What’s the difference between a psychopath and a sociopath? and how do both differ from narcissists? Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-a-psychopath-and-a-sociopath-and-how-do-both-differ-from-narcissists.

Jiang, W., Shi, F., Liu, H., Li, G., Ding, Z., Shen, H., Shen, C., Lee, S.-W., Hu, D., Wang, W., & Shen, D. (2017, February 22). Reduced white matter integrity in antisocial personality disorder: A diffusion tensor imaging study. Scientific reports. Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5320449/.

Fletcher, J. (2021, July 31). Perceptions aside: Differences between a psychopath & sociopath? Psych Central. Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://psychcentral.com/health/differences-between-a-psychopath-vs-sociopath#myths.