Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)
The American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5 (2013) defines antisocial personality disorder as a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring since age 15. At least three of the following are required: repeated unlawful acts, deceitfulness, impulsivity, aggressiveness, reckless disregard for safety, irresponsibility and lack of remorse. The person must be at least 18, with evidence of conduct disorder with onset before age 15.
How the concept of psychopathy developed
In The Mask of Sanity (1941), Cleckley described people who seem charming and normal on the surface but lack sincerity, remorse and deep emotion. Building on this, Hare developed the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R, 1991), which became the standard tool in research and in correctional and forensic assessment.
- Factor 1 (interpersonal-affective): superficial charm, grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, manipulation, lack of remorse or guilt, shallow affect, lack of empathy.
- Factor 2 (lifestyle-antisocial): need for stimulation, impulsivity, irresponsibility, parasitic lifestyle, early behaviour problems, juvenile delinquency.
The triarchic model of Patrick and colleagues (2009) describes psychopathy in terms of three components: boldness, meanness and disinhibition.
How the two differ
Because ASPD is mostly behavioural, a large share of prison inmates meet its criteria, while far fewer exceed the psychopathy cut-off on the PCL-R. Hare (1996) pointed to an asymmetric relationship: most psychopaths meet the criteria for ASPD, but most people with ASPD are not psychopaths. In short, emotional deficits are central to psychopathy, while antisocial behaviour is central to ASPD.
Misconceptions and cautions
'Sociopath' is not an official diagnosis, and scholars use it in different senses. It is also a misconception that all psychopaths are violent offenders. The PCL-R must be scored by trained raters using both an interview and file records, so it should not be used to label someone a psychopath in everyday life.
References
- American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing.
- Cleckley, H. (1941). The Mask of Sanity. Mosby.
- Hare, R. D. (1991). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. Multi-Health Systems.
- Hare, R. D. (1996). Psychopathy: A clinical construct whose time has come. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 23(1), 25-54.
- Patrick, C. J., Fowles, D. C., & Krueger, R. F. (2009). Triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy: Developmental origins of disinhibition, boldness, and meanness. Development and Psychopathology, 21(3), 913-938.