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Film, television and literature often exhibit stories involving people who suffer from antisocial personality disorder. ‘Sociopaths’ with this disorder typically display:
➤Manipulation or exploitation of others
➤Lack of remorse or empathy
➤Criminally deviant behaviour
➤Difficulty in sustaining long term relationships
➤Blaming others for problems in their lives
➤Inability to control their anger
Spot the Difference
Psychopaths and sociopaths both suffer from antisocial personality disorder. They key difference between the two is that psychopaths are born (hence ‘psyche’ meaning mind in Greek). Sociopaths are made (hence ‘socio’ adhering to environment). This is essentially nature vs nurture.
Psychopaths have reduced connections between the pre-frontal cortex and the amygdala, which is why they don’t feel empathy or remorse. That part of the brain is responsible for human compassion and empathy. Sociopaths become the way they are as a result of abuse or neglect in childhood, or brain damage. (Alcohol or drug abuse can also lead to sociopathic behaviour). A psychopath could also have had an abusive childhood but would still be a psychopath regardless.
Behaviour
In terms of behavioural displays, sociopaths tend to be more erratic and hot-headed. Psychopaths are more calculating, meticulous and ‘cold.’ A psychopath will plan out a murder for weeks, months or even years. Sociopaths will act out erratically on their anger and will throw a violent fit within the spur of the moment. It is, however, important to note that not all psychopaths and sociopaths are necessarily murderers and criminals. Their lack of remorse and empathy makes it easier for them to be this way, but can also be channelled into success. Many psychopaths hold down successful business and corporate jobs due to their ruthless cut-throat approach to dealing with people.
Character Comparisons
Below, I am going to compare the differences between Tony Soprano from The Sopranos, Norman Bates from Psycho, and Amy Dunne from Gone Girl. Norman and Amy are psychopaths, while Tony is a sociopath.
Tony Soprano
Tony is a mobster. He kills people; he kills his nephew with his bare hands, shoots his cousin; his best friend, and many others. He cheats repeatedly on his wife, he is aggressive, he is dishonest, and has an extremely bad temper. Yet he shows continuous love and compassion for his son and daughter throughout the show. He loves his cousin and displays guilt and remorse after killing him as well as a general reluctance to kill him. He never kills anyone ‘for the sake of it.’ In the mafia world, people kill each other for business, not for the sake of killing.
Tony also shows vulnerability in his therapy sessions. He has deep compassion for animals and small children which is a trait typical of sociopaths. He shows love and affection for his wife and for other women he sees on the side, as well as love for his friends. As revealed in his therapy sessions he had a very difficult childhood; his mother was cold, unloving and passive-aggressive, and his father was a gangster who physically abused his son at times. This has contributed to Tony suffering from depression and panic attacks in his adult life. Tony’s sister also displays similar behavioural tendencies to him, such as the violent temper.
Amy Dunne
Amy Dunne, by contrast, is very different. She was raised in a house with loving parents. Yes, one could argue that they put pressure on her to be ‘Amazing Amy’. But her upbringing was definitely not abusive in the way Tony’s was. Amy is a perfectionist. She is superficially charming, uncaring of others, manipulative, deeply intelligent and psychoanalytical. Most importantly, she is calculative and selfish in a way Tony is not. She never shows vulnerability or compassion.
Her ‘love’ for Nick is based on him doing whatever she wants him to do. She tries to frame him for murder which would get him charged with the death penalty. This is all because he cheats on her. He has an affair and she wants him dead, and she plans it very smoothly and finely down to every last detail. She manipulates the reader initially by trying to make herself come across as a warm, loving person with an allegedly horrible husband.
In this way, I believe that Amy is far scarier than Tony. Tony can be charming, but his ‘mask’ often slips. More often than not we see him for the man he truly is. Amy’s mask rarely slips. Psychopaths tend to speak in the same eerily calm, soft tone of voice, due to their consistent hiding of emotion. A psychopath will not reveal their true self. A psychopath will not look inside themselves and question their morality and wonder if they are a good or a bad person. Tony constantly questions himself and is able to see at times that his behaviour is not always good. I would class Amy as truly evil, or immoral, and Tony as amoral.
Other examples
Sociopaths: Fletcher from Whiplash, The Joker from Batman, Begbie from Trainspotting, Derek from American History X, Jack Torrance from The Shining, Leon from Leon, Henry Hill from Goodfellas, Beatrix Kiddo from Kill Bill, Walter White from Breaking Bad, Roger from American Dad, Michael Corleone from The Godfather.
Psychopaths: Norman Bates from Psycho, Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, Rhoda from The Bad Seed, Alex from A Clockwork Orange, Peter and Paul from Funny Games, Heddie from Single White Female, Peyton from The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Hannibal Lector from The Silence of the Lambs, Mitsuko from Battle Royale, Annie Wilkes from Misery.
And, of course, Evelyn Baxter from Psycho Girl.
Do you have any other examples? Do you like psychological thrillers or do they make you shit your pants? Lemme know below!
Very Fascinating stuff. Thank you for your comments on my posts as well 🙂
No problem man!
this is super interesting! You explained this all amazingly as well!
Thank you!
Interesting post. Always an interesting topic for me as I have a psyc background.
Glad you found it interesting!