A debate for mass shootings

[Bengalzona]

(10-04-2017, 06:48 PM)JustWinBaby Wrote: Do you mean psychopath?  Farther end of that spectrum, usually associated with violence by the general population but actually takes many forms.

You've likely dealt with many highly functioning sociopaths/pyschopaths and never knew it.  I didn't dive into the research or read much more about it, but a study a while back estimated about 20% of CEO's have psychopathic traits (vs. @ 1% in the general population).  Cue the peanut gallery arguing it's 100%.....

Yes, technically correct.

In common parlance, the terms are often used interchangeably as the behaviors are pretty much the same. But among the psych doc world, sociopath usually refers to someone with the symptoms whose behavior has been shaped by outside people and events, while psychopath refers to someone with innate causes of those behaviors.

The definitions have changed over the past thirty years. When I was in college, a sociopath was the general term for someone with non-empathetic behaviors (but with the ability to blend and function in society) and a psychopath was someone with psychosis (breaks from reality and generally unable to function in society). That is why I sometimes use the term sociopath.

And, yes, about 99.99% of psychopaths/sociopaths live somewhat normal lives without murdering anyone.