The older term Sociopath has now been subsumed under the more general category of Antisocial Peronality Disorder (APD). Here is the list of the behaviors characteristic of APD (the following is taken directly from the Wikipedia entry under
Sociopath). How would you score George W. Bush?
Antisocial personality disorder (APD) is a personality disorder listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the handbook used to diagnose mental disorders most frequently. APD is generally considered to be the same as, or similar to, the disorder that was previously known as psychopathic or sociopathic personality disorder.
It is characterised by a number of symptoms:
* Failure to conform to social norms or lawful behaviors
* Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure
* Irresponsibility, impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
* Irritability and aggression, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults
* Reckless disregard for safety of self or others
* Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another.
In contemporary research and clinical practice, APD is most commonly assessed with the Hare Psychopathy Checklist- Revised (PCL-R), which is a clinical rating scale with 20 items. Each of the items in the PCL-R is scored on a three-point scale according to specific criteria through file information and a semi-structured interview. The items are as follows:
Interpersonal dimension
* Glibness/superficial charm
* Grandiose sense of self-worth
* Pathological lying
* Conning/manipulative
* Lack of remorse or guilt
* Shallow affect
* Callous/lack of empathy
* Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
Affective dimension
* Need for stimulation/-proneness to boredom
* Parasitic lifestyle
* Poor behavioral controls
* Early behavioral problems
* Lack of realistic, long-term goals
* Impulsivity
* Irresponsibility
* Juvenile delinquency
* Revocation of conditional release
Behavioral dimension
* Promiscuous sexual behavior
* Many short-term marital relationships
* Criminal versatility
Score 0 if the trait is absent, 1 if it is possibly or partially present and 2 if it is present. The item scores are summed to yield a total score ranging from 0 to 40 which is then considered to reflect the degree to which they resemble the prototypical psychopath. A score > 30 supports a diagnosis of psychopathy.