ANSWERS: 30
  • Are you trying to tell me something?
  • My understanding of "sociopath" is someone who has no conscience, empathy for others or ability to relate consequences of his/her actions to the results of those actions or even care one way or another. So I don't see how one could be "nice" and also simultaneously be a sociopath in the real world. Now, certainly, on the surface one can be "pleasant"..but that is only a facade and has nothing to do with what is going on inside and what the potential for damage might be. Just my opinion! :)
  • Yes. Good behavior is what you do, not what you think. The only difficulty I can see is in the continuous reinforcement of good behavior experienced by normal people. Normal people empathize with other people, and thus quickly receive warning messages inside their own heads (internalized "punishment") when they perform bad actions on other people. A sociopath lacks the ability to empathize with others, and so a bad action against another person does not receive an immediate internal "punishment". A sociopath without some other form of "carrot" to act in the right way would be at a loss for why good behavior was a good idea. I suppose a form of pseudo-empathy could be taught, in which a sociopath is secretly followed around in his or her daily life (or possibly just a "punishment collar" containing devices which record the sight and sound of the sociopath and transmit back to a central observer), and punished instantly for bad actions against others, which would build up a *memory* of punishments which could spring back to mind when anti-social behavior is being considered by the sociopath in the future. However, it may not be worth the time and effort.
  • I've heard that they can be charming to be manipulative of others.
  • Not in the genuine sense. All of their actions are self-serving, with the intention of receiving something in return.
  • My understanding of sociopath is the same as Rosie's, Bob's and eternal's . A sociopath may behave in ways that seem to indicate an underlying good nature and empathy. But it's a front , calculated to lull you into a comfort zone, which the sociopath then uses to extract from you what they want, with no regard to the consequences to you. Welcome back, BTW. I hadn't seen any posts from you recently and I was wondering if you had abandoned us. I hope your day is going well.
  • It's possible for a sociopath to act like a nice person. Not only is is possible, it's very probable because sociopaths are noted for being able to turn on the charm and deceive others. They know what people want to here.
  • I work as a trainer in a prison and deal with sociopaths every day. A lot of them are very easy to get along with but I wouldn't trust them in their own environment where they have access to drugs and booze which makes them the antisocial individuals that get arrested
  • They have the ability to look and act like a nice person because they can lie and cheat without thought to the repercussions of their actions. They do not have a conscience and although they may know the difference between right and wrong, they do not internalize it. They do and say what is to their best interest regardless of who it may hurt. They often are criminals and the truth is not told by them unless it is to their best advantage.
  • Yes. A sociopath can be very charming and social. In fact, they are so good at it that most people could never believe they could actually be soulless, thoughtless, uncaring monsters.
  • If one decides to inflict pseudo empathy unto their thinking because they have something to gain from it I can see it then, otherwise i see them acting like a nice person to maintain a front again for personalgain all of this of course is subjective on what "nice" is too you. Sociopaths in general it is not my understanding do not bother with something they deem "useless"
  • Some o' the "nicest" (appearing)! ;-)
  • it is possible. you can be a sociopath, and hide it. but it's probably temporary because you cant bottle up your mentallity forever. you have to explode. ive been called a sociopath because of how i think. i know if im angry enough, i can do A LOT of damage. i have a very strange mentallity, but i really dont know what i am.
  • Sure, they may even let you go to the bathroom while their torturing you for kicks.
  • Couldn't this be the very case with that guy dressing up as Santa and killed like 7 or so people before committing suicide? Everyone close to them apparently said he was a nice guy.
  • Sure, people think I'm nice
  • Please see http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html $$$ Well, I think that I'm a nice person ...except when I am PMSing, have a hangover, don't get a christmas present from a dear loved one, and miss out on the last serving of christmas pudding when a selfish pig of a relative eats it on me .... besides that I am a peach!! Pax heathens!!!! (I'm ovulating right now! Scusi!)
  • Sorry to unearth this question, but I had to chime in. I have dealt with two sociopaths in back-to-back relationships and have never been aware of such a personality until this year. The first sociopath was blatant in his behavior, very odd and one that I could quite put my finger on. Always level headed, unassuming and "nice", but never fully engaged (didn't ask questions or show sincere interest etc.). This person showed signs that he hasn't had enough experiences to figure out how to "act" in a relationship to "fully" get what he is after, but he was able to get by just enough to hook and reel me in. I am a person who is likely drawn to such people and they to me. The first sociopath, I met at work and he had the typical me against the world and all things socially constructed attitude, that I thought was intriguing at first. I ended it after a few months when his "mask" began to slip as I was asking toooo many questions. The second socipath, I met online and I am still struggling with whether or not he truly is or not, as I actually fell in love with this man (or did I?).... He came on swift and strong in the beginning... the "I love you" came about 2 and 1/2 weeks in and although I was falling too, I didn't expect him to say it so early. I was smitten. In light of the "love" he would shut me out here and there for days at a time... blaming it on ocd or his need for "alone" time. Also he had drama drama drama all around him and I won't even go into detail. Top it all off with his grandious sexual desires and preoccupation with money, women and sex all while trying to be a good guy, one can't help but wonder about his true nature. Mind you that if you slight a sociopath, there mask will begin to slip and if you hit them in the core of their true character and call them out, you are an automatic enemy. Forget love... even like... as they never really existed. YOU ARE A MEANS TO AN END! You fill their need for attention, sex, etc. Sociopaths / narcissistic personalities are all around us. My father is one. Heck, I may even be introverted myself. Yet I do know one thing and that is that I have empathy. That in itself, sets me apart from a large percentage of the universal population.
  • I'm sure that a sociopath can "seem" like a nice person, but may not be sincere at all.
  • Yes, in fact most are described as nice people. No one ever knows the monster that lives inside of them until after they do something horrendous, then everyone seems shocked, would have never suspected them of being anything but the nice quiet person that lived next door, or worked with them everyday, etc.
  • Sociopaths are among the most charming people on earth. They learn to mimic socially acceptable behavior and feign empathy for others but never feel it. They're often quite successful in their endeavors because they experience far less stress than do "normal" people. For example, they can pull off huge cons because they don't get nervous and can use and destroy people who have been very kind to them because they simply have no feelings for anyone but themselves.
  • A sociopath can be charming, and indeed, many of them are. But they are not nice people.
  • It is not just possible, it is actually *usual*: "Sociopaths are unable to conform to what society considers as normal. Visible symptoms include the disregard for the physical or sexual wellbeing of another. Research has shown that a sociopath is usually a person with an abundance of charm and wit. He or she may appear friendly and considerate, but these attributes are usually superficial. They are used as a way of blinding the other person to gain advantage to their personal agenda." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociopath "a person with an abundance of charm and wit [who] may appear friendly and considerate" is exactly what we would commonly consider "a nice person".
  • It is very much possible. Most of the sociopaths we meet are very nice people. Of all the nice people we meet it would be impossible to say how many are actually sociopaths.
  • well yeah, how do you think they get close to their victims?
  • No because in order to be a nice person you have to have goodness somewhere inside of you. Sociopaths are cold and calculating - completely deviod of empathy. They don't know how to be nice.. Well they know how to pretend to be nice, but not really be nice
  • Yes, most come across as very charming endearing people. You usually don't know they are sociopaths until one day the world does not seem to revolve around them for some reason or another. Then you see it.
  • Are you insinuating something?
  • Deceptively I suppose.

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