Getting into the mind of a psychopath

[Edwardo Piet]

From what I think I know it seems that in theory an absolute psychopath would never feel neither remorse nor fear... so if after murdering someone if someone pointed a gun at them they would just rationally think "I need to escape quickly so I don't die."... their heart wouldn't even beat with anything but excitement for murdering the person, never out of fear. Whereas a sociopath would panic and be scared. But neither would feel remorse for murdering the person (which is hypothetically why they have a gun pointed at them in the first place).

I'm sure someone with real expertise can correct me on that, but that's rather the difference between an organised and a disorganised perpetrator. Psychopaths are very capable to plan ahead and certainly don't wait around for being caught because they have no fear. Most serial offenders plan their next crime to be an even better gratification for their needs. They certainly feel something, but no empathy. For them people are objects to be used to satisfy their own needs. That's where serial offenders and a Sociopathic CEOs overlap. In this case it certainly is about sociopaths and not psychopaths.

Disorganised offenders tend to be mentally ill. Suffering from schizophrenia or another condition influencing their ability for judgment. According to the books I have read, they're much easier to be caught than personalities such as Ted Bundy, who could function very well in a social environment without ever being a part of it.

Everything I've read definitely tells me Psychopaths are the more extreme of the two.

Sociopathy is often compared to Anti Social Personality Disorder... and whereas it's not known how much of Sociopathy is down to nature and how much is down to nurture... I've read that sociopathy is more on the nurture side whereas psychopaths tend to be born thay way. Sociopaths are incredibly dysfunctional and self-destructive and have often had an abusive and dysfunctional childhood and/or adolecedence and so their capacity for remorse and empathy has been stunted to either nonexistent or almost nonexistent...

Whereas psychopaths are either born almost without empathy altogether or are completely without it... and they tend to be very low anxiety whereas sociopaths are very high anxiety.

That's a way of looking at it, like I said, both are lacking in remorse... psychopaths tend to be low anxiety (to a 'fearless' level)... and so they are very bold risk takers. They're pleasure seekers and manipulators. Sociopaths are perhaps even more reckless but that's because their high level anxiety is self destructive, and they're still very impulsive they just feel a lot more anxiety and regret (but not remorse, just regret for hurting themselves, for being foolish) over their own self-destructive behavior...

Another way of looking at it, is there is supposedly two kinds of psychopaths, and one of them is more like the classic fearless calculating psychopath, which is known as primary psychopathy and the other is like the anxiety ridden Anti Social Personaly Disorder-ed Sociopath, which is known as secondary psychopathy:

Several researchers have argued that there are two variants, or subtypes, of psychopathy. There is also empirical support for separating persons scoring high on the PCL-R into two groups that do not simply reflect Factor 1 and Factor 2. There is at least preliminary evidence of differences regarding cognition and affect as measured in laboratory tests. Different theories characterize these two variants somewhat differently.

Compared to "primary" psychopathy, "secondary" psychopathy has been conceptualized as being associated with more fear, anxiety, and other negative emotions. This subtype is seen as more impulsive and with more reactive anger and aggression. David T. Lykken, using Gray's biopsychological theory of personality, argued that primary psychopathy is characterized by little fear while secondary psychopathy is characterized by an increased sensitivity to rewards. Studies also suggest that secondary psychopathy manifests more features of borderline personality than primary psychopathy, and comparable levels of antisocial behavior.

There are also different theories as to the predominant causes of either variant. Some researchers, such as Benjamin Karpman, believe that primary psychopathy is caused by an emotional deficit and that secondary psychopathy is acquired through adverse environmental experiences, although others, such as Lykken, link both variants to different biological predispositions. Some preliminary research suggests that secondary psychopathy may be associated with a more abusive childhood, a higher risk of future violence, and potentially a better response to treatment.

(my emphasis)