Why is Sociopathy Sexy???

[kokopelle]

I recently wrote about the lovely Olivia d'Abo who had a repeated role on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" as a sociopathic criminal. She is one of the few people who managed to go toe-to-toe with Detective Goren. In jest I said, "It's official. A sociopath can be sexy."

A live journal friend added the comment, "Most sociopaths actually exude a charm and sexuality that draws people into them, they are commonly extremely intelligent (genius intelligence) and 'charming.' A sociopath can definitely be sexy."

This got me wondering (once again) about the nature of the sociopathic mind. I've written about the "honest villain" and the sociopath does not seem to be this person. I found an article at http://faculty.ncwc.edu/TOCONNOR/428/428lect16.htm that does an excellent job of dissecting various sorts of social maladjustment. The article has these attributes associated with the sociopath are: Exaggerated sexuality; Excessive boasting; Risk taking; Inability to resist temptation. These seem sexy. The sociopath is also credited with: Antagonistic, deprecating attitude toward the opposite sex; Lack of interest in bonding with a mate. These are NOT sexy, or perhaps they are if one considers the "bad boy" and "bad girl" archetypes. Very interesting associations that seem to support the original LJ comments.

Do check out the original article. This is a really good clinical examination of Antisocial Personality, Sociopathy and Psychopathy behavior.

Comments

[iskender.livejournal.com]

Well, sociopaths are often extremely confident, which suggests charm, intelligence, and the like. People like confidence, more than accuracy.

[moonvoice.livejournal.com]

Yup. Not all of them fit the bill - but the ones that do, tend to do it pretty well. I have known a sociopath (thankfully only one), and while he certainly had a 'dark side,' he was intelligent enough to control the majority of the boasting and antagonism and instead just switched on this overbearing charm / confidence so that everyone in the neighbourhood fell in love with him. Unfortunately, he was also a pedophile.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

chimerae found a really good article (http://www.quietsafe.org/Technologists.html) that speaks about the corporate sociopath. The author makes the point that a corporate sociopath will take advantage of situations when there is weak structures and big emphases on "charisma". The sociopath steps into this and takes over with the following stages

• First, the psychopath identifies those who can help him and cultivates them with all his considerable charm;


• Then he pinpoints those who can harm him and outflanks them or stabs them in the back;


• Finally he makes a sycophantic but ultimately devastating beeline towards the source of power (one thinks of Hitler and Hindenburg, but also of the irrepressible Eve Harrington in All About Eve).

I see these having a correlation to personal relationships. The sociopath seek a situation in which the to-be victim has both a weak structure and a need for charisma. The weak structure may be the result of recently ended relationship, aka rebound. The need for charisma is equivalent to wanting praise and adoration, no matter the later cost. Very interesting stuff.

I appreciation your sharing. It is not TMI to me.