I thought this information was so interesting...I cut and pasted what I found the most interesting. A lot of it is from a book called "The Sociopath Nextdoor" written by Martha Stout. The rest of the info is from a book used for clinical diagnosing personality disorders.
**********
"Although not all narcissists are sociopaths, all sociopaths are narcissists" (Stout 2010)
Sociopaths are often unable to control their behavior and their expressions of annoyance, irritability and threats when faced with situations not appealing to them and they often tend to resort to threats, aggression and verbal abuse.
People suffering from Sociopathic disorders tend to be superficially charming. They also tend to display behavior which include manipulation of people around them, desire to be in control of everything and everyone around them that usually leads to grave consequences and shallow emotions.
Promiscuous sexual behavior- A variety of brief, superficial relations, numerous affairs, and an indiscriminate selection of sexual partners; the maintenance of several relationships at the same time; a history of attempts to sexually coerce others into sexual activity or taking great pride at discussing sexual exploits or conquests.
Pathological lying- can be moderate or high; in moderate form, they will be shrewd, crafty, cunning, sly, and clever; in extreme form, they will be deceptive, deceitful, underhanded, unscrupulous, manipulative, and dishonest.
Parasitic lifestyle- An intentional, manipulative, selfish, and exploitative financial dependence on others as reflected in a lack of motivation, low self-discipline, and inability to begin or complete responsibilities.
Criminal versatility- A diversity of types of criminal offenses, regardless if the person has been arrested or convicted for them; taking great pride at getting away with crimes. (Hare 2011).
Behaves arrogantly and haughtily-Feels superior, omnipotent, omniscient, invincible, immune, above the law, and omnipresent (magical thinking). Rages when frustrated, contradicted, or confronted by people he or she considers inferior to him or her and unworthy (
http://samvak.tripod.com).
Is obsessed with fantasies of unlimited success, fame, fearsome power or omnipotence, unequalled brilliance (the cerebral narcissist), bodily beauty or sexual performance (the somatic narcissist), or ideal, everlasting, all-conquering love or passion;
Constantly envious of others and seeks to hurt or destroy the objects of his or her frustration. Suffers from persecutory (paranoid) delusions as he or she believes that they feel the same about him or her and are likely to act similarly
In addition to the above traits, the biggest trait (or magic trick as I like to call it) that makes narcissistic sociopaths so dangerous and effective is their ability to go unnoticed by the rest of us. They can do this, because they are good at pretending (lying) and wearing many masks (again, lying). Simply put, they lie to themselves and everyone else. They lie so much that some of them are convinced of their own lies, which is where evil is born.
SOCIOPATH TRAITS
Displays heightened levels of deceitfulness in dealings with others, which involves lying, conning others without remorse, or even using aliases
Makes excuses or changes subject when caught in a lie
When questioned goes around the question, answering it in a way that doesnt really answer it
Inability to abide by the social norms and thus violating law
Ability to understand rules & laws and judging them as a part of the game, but no ability for empathy or emotional understanding behind the rules
Displays aggressiveness and often tends to get into assaults and physical fights
Displays complete lack of empathy for others and their situation for which they are responsible
Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
Displays no feelings or shallow feelings
Displays impulsive behavior which is indicated by the inability to plan for the future
Displays no concern for safety of others around them or self
Inability to sustain a consistent behavior that stems mainly from irresponsibility especially at work place or in other dealings
Displays promiscuous behavior
Research has revealed that since a sociopath never conforms to the rules of the society,
he or she is not bothered about the consequences of his or her actions. Such people at times are also able to inspire like minded people. Some of the other traits that are common in antisocial people are that they are usually intelligent and have a superficial charm and they are able to attain success using unscrupulous methods. Thus they can also never learn from their own mistakes and
they do not hesitate to indulge in certain activities that are considered immoral and taboo by the society.
NARCISSISTIC SOCIOPATH
Narcissistic sociopaths often tend to be highly manipulative and without any shred of remorse for their actions, even if their actions have harmed others who are close to them or their family members. There is nothing that can stop a narcissistic sociopath from achieving his goals. He makes use of all his charm which is highly superficial and intellect in order to attain his goals by any means possible. Such people often think that they are above all and they do not really care if anyone disagrees with them.
PSYCHOPATH VS SOCIOPATH
Many a time people tend to get confused between a psychopath and a sociopath. Though psychopathy is not a disorder that is formally recognized, it is more or less considered to be a form of antisocial personality disorder. People considered to be psychopaths are often paranoid and suspicious and the implications of this paranoia tend to be severe, with psychopaths interpreting all aggressive behavior against them as unjust.
Usually psychopaths are organized and they can have normal relationships and they are successful career wise too. These people place a lot of emphasis on planning, especially when planning to commit a crime, they tend to plan for years.
However when it comes to sociopaths, they are incapable of maintaining relationships, jobs and they are highly disorganized and erratic. As they have no respect for social norm, they do not hesitate to physically or verbally abuse their victims.
THE COMMON SOCIOPATH
Sometimes called subcultural delinquents, this is the main species of the largest genus of antisocial personalities and, because of the rising incidence of incompetent parenting, they are increasing in number. They have a weak and unelaborated conscience,
are not shamed by much of what would shame you and me. They have a weak future perspective because they have grown up under circumstances in which the future was unpredictable and only the pleasures and pains directly at hand could be relied on.
They take pride in rule breaking rather than in rule observance and arc like feral children grown up, gratifying impulses of the moment, disinterested in long-term goals. They arc the natural result of weak parental bonding, weak parental control, and bad parental example. Most commonly they also display the effects of being turned loose in the streets to run with other sociopathic children where they assimilate the atavistic social structure of the street or of the adolescent gang.
These individuals are feral creatures, undomesticated predators, stowaways on our communal voyage who have never signed the Social Contract.
THE ALIENATED SOCIOPATH
The Alienated Sociopath: The Cheated
Freud speaks somewhere about the individual who feels disadvantaged by appearance or physical disability, by social or class origin, minority status, or in some other way and who
rationalizes his failure to follow the social rules on the grounds that, having been thus cheated at the outset, those rules do not apply to him. It is an interesting and important fact that most of the diverse criminal types suggested here do tend to justify their conduct in one way or another, at least to themselves.
COVETOUS SOCIOPATH, PSYCHOPATH, ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY TYPE:
Feels deliberately deprived & denied, rapacious, very greedy, jelous, envoues, begrudging, endlessly yearning, seeks retribution. Finds pleasure in actual taking more than having.
REPUTATION DEFENDING/
NARCISSISTIC SOCIOPATH, PSYCHOPATH, ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY TYPE:
Defends his reputation of unflawed, the one with courage, unbreakable, dominant, undefeatable, formidable, untouchable; furious/relentless when status in question, overreacts to little things.
