by Vickie Britton

Created on: April 18, 2009

Ever meet a fascinating individual, full of self-confidence and charm? Did that person turn out to be a liar, a cheat, or someone who stabbed you in the back for their own personal gain?

Sound like anyone you know? Maybe your last boyfriend or the guy at the bank or that last evil boss. You may have encountered a psychopath. According to varying researchers, between one to four percent of the general population is made up of sociopaths, which is a synonym for psychopath or someone with antisocial personality disorder. Many psychopaths are functioning in the community as politicians, businessmen and key members of the community.

But no cause to fear. To many, the very word psychopath brings up an image of Norman Bates or some knife-brandishing lunatic. In extreme cases, this is true. But a sociopath is simply a person who lacks conscience. This lack can manifest itself in different ways. Sometimes it can turn to murder because the psychopath has no empathy for another person's pain. Some famous murderous psychopaths include Ted Bundy, Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer. Now lets look as some of the more harmless kinds of psychopaths you might meet every day.

Politicians

Every day on the news you hear stories about politicians lying to the public, dipping into funds or committing some other atrocity while pretending to serve the public. There are sure to be psychopaths in the local government where you live, as well. Psychopaths often thrive in politics and are highly successful in achieving their goals because they play to win. They don't mind stepping on toes or cutting people out. And if they can get money the easy way, then they will take it with no feeling of guilt for the ones they have robbed.

Successful Businessmen

Many successful merchants and businessmen are psychopaths. Leaders and CEOS of big companies often have sociopath traits. Take for example the almost inhuman greed perpetrated the Enron scandal. Top-level executives are often obsessed with gain. Their goal is to get rich and they don't mind cheating their employees or bankrupting others or doing whatever it takes to defeat their competitors.

Bigamists, Bad Boys and Sexual Psychopaths

Psychopaths are often very charming and attractive to members of the opposite sex. They have a reckless, devil-may-care attitude that can be fascinating. They are often promiscuous and have no feelings of guilt over having a wife and a few lovers or even two or more wives in different towns. A psychopath can create emotional havoc and ruin lives because the psychopath doesn't feel true love or remorse or care about any consequence except getting caught.

Bullies

Another form of psychopath may be the school bully or a sadistic coach. Some psychopaths enjoy inflicting pain. The pain may be either physical or emotional. A psychopathic boss may inflict pain upon employees by threats and humiliation.

So, as you can see there are plenty of sociopaths around. You might pass them on the street and not even recognize them unless they use you somehow to their advantage. But before you label someone a psychopath, be aware that not all liars, cheats, and thieves fall into that category. in order to be a true psychopath the person must not have a sense of right and wrong or feel any remorse or guilt for their actions.

Learn more about this author, Vickie Britton.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.