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[MBTI General] INTP and Sociopath

onemoretime

Dreaming the life
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Messages
4,455
MBTI Type
3h50
The term "sociopath" is thrown around far too liberally, these days. Most people don't even realize that the word pertains to a personality disorder that should be diagnosed. As for the population of sociopaths in the Western world, most of them are already institutionalized or will be shortly.

I'm not so sure about that. The incidence in the general public is around 4% by most studies. That would account for 12.2 million in the United States alone - our institutionalized population, high by most modern countries' standards, is only 7.5 million. Given that though more sociopaths are statistically imprisoned, that still leaves a very large population of those who aren't institutionalized, and likely very wealthy. For every Ted Bundy, there are many more Bernard Madoffs.
 

DaRick

New member
Joined
Oct 19, 2007
Messages
100
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
I have actually met one INTP who I would charactise as a sociopath. I'll explain:

- Manipulative
- Can receive the backing of people who don't even like him if you go up against him
- Pathological liar
- A terrible influence on others
- Laughs at the misfortune of others
- Back-stabbing
- Mistreatment of friends
- Irresponsible
- Screwed-up family life

He also had weird ideas and said some very bizarre things.

I also met another E/I NTP. While he wasn't a great guy and changed attitudes like most of us do clothes, he wasn't a sociopath.
 

Asterion

Ruler of the Stars
Joined
May 6, 2009
Messages
2,331
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
unhealthy enneagram 5 is the sociopath type, INTPs are quite frequently 5s, therefore they are associated with sociopaths. (haven't read the thread yet)
 

The Decline

(☞゚∀゚)☞
Joined
Jun 3, 2009
Messages
780
MBTI Type
?
Enneagram
5w4
I thought the unhealthy type 5 is a schizoid. I'd think the INTP would rather retreat from society than turn against it at any given chance. I didn't think the INTP could fall completely from empathy that easily.
 

Lithium Onyx

New member
Joined
Jul 20, 2009
Messages
64
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
5w6
I'm a type five, and for some reason people seem to think I'm a sociopath.

Then again, to a lot of people (and especialls SJs) people think of me as a bit eccentric anyway, so that doesn't help.
 

Tom Moose

New member
Joined
Nov 7, 2010
Messages
1
MBTI Type
INTP
Man this has hit a seriously sore spot! What is it they say about that with INTPs?:D

What is this frickin procilivity people have today for using major mental/emotional illness terms offhandedly directed at fellow human beings? Its a new form of namecalling to me and irks the holy sh** out of me. Number one... its a logical fallacy and I totally turn off when I hear it done. One I hear tossed around sooo often is "paranoid" (Exhibiting or characterized by extreme and irrational fear or distrust of others) how the he## can any casual poster know something like that from a simple post? Classifying an "I" as that is IMO f'd up. Where are their friggin credentials? Its a put down, plain and simple... "irrational" indeed! And simply demonstrates the name-callers inability to think and speak rationally themselves.

As for sociopath or psychopath... those are about the most serious diagnoses one can hear. (as in f'n serial killer) Definitely not to be bandied about lightly! I would venture to say that anyone irl calling me that would either get a slap in the mouth or a verbal beating they wouldn't soon forget.

Suffice to say, IMO, unless they're a doctor or the person has shared that intimate information with them, anyone using mental/emotional illness terms referring to another human being is just showing their own ignorance, illiteracy and inflated sense of self-worth... egocentric in the extreme!.. not to mention rude, crude, insulting, insensitive b*strd behavior that really should carry the consequence of them winding up on the f'n floor. :steam:

Edit: I'll take profanity any day over namecalling.:steam:

What can I say, I'm guilty. You drive a fine point. I am definately in the wrong. I need to annalyize my motives. I've only called one person a sociopath, and it hasn't been confirmed. I want to share this...

My cousin has robbed my grandma three times. She doesn't have much money. She keeps things, I don't want to call her a hoarder (for the same reason I should not have called my cousin a sociopath). Anyway, she keeps stuff and some of this stuff is valuable. Like 100 year old coins. He stole twenty bucks from me when I was 12. When his dad died, he didn't feel anything. He wasn't putting on a strong face, his emotions were completely absent. Well I shouldn't say completely. There were instances where he stopped to think about what emotions he should feel. I think he had sex with my sister (incest). He was also having sex with my next door neighbor and he seriously messed her up. He threatened to kill my friend (who is also my neighbor, and he robbed him at one point) because he mentioned a joke people were telling about him behind his back. He also had sex with a 12 year old girl. That 12 year old was the last straw (the sister thing didn't really do much to be honest). I believe in the sexuality of the youth but what he does to people is wrong. Also, anything a grown adult can do sexually to a 12 year old can only cause problems. So I threw everything at him to get some kind of reaction. I got anger, not passionate anger (like I just called him a pedophile anger), just cold anger. He threatened to kill me. I hope he will.
 

Mr. Sherlock Holmes

Consulting Detective
Joined
Aug 10, 2010
Messages
1,450
MBTI Type
JiNe
Enneagram
5W4
I think if an INTP was a sociopath, we would care so little about achieving goals (being the process over result type) that we would probably cause very little damage.
 
R

ReflecTcelfeR

Guest
If a Sociopath lacks a conscious (emotion or at least guilt) then how can you even determine a type? It would seem that once you get rid of one side of the coin Feeling then type theory is out of the question as this theory requires the 'dichotomy'.
 

Mr. Sherlock Holmes

Consulting Detective
Joined
Aug 10, 2010
Messages
1,450
MBTI Type
JiNe
Enneagram
5W4
If a Sociopath lacks a conscious (emotion or at least guilt) then how can you even determine a type? It would seem that once you get rid of one side of the coin Feeling then type theory is out of the question as this theory requires the 'dichotomy'.

They could have Fe as a simple way of manipulation or to like other people around them feeling bad perhaps (like reverse of normal) or Fi to put their own personal feelings as paramount, I guess. Probably wouldn't work though, dunno. I guess you could be a type with no feeling preferences, like for INTP, Ti>Ne>Si>NOTHING!>Te/Se/Ni>NOTHING!
 
Joined
Dec 7, 2008
Messages
271
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
7w8
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Sociopaths do feel, they just don't show signs of remorse. Sociopathy is equivalent to AsPD which concerns destructive behaviour rather than a mind with shallow affect. What you really mean is 'are INTPs PSYCHOPATHS?'. Although I have found a few psychopathic people to have an INTP personality type, the majority are ENTP. This would make sense as the Aggressive Narcissism traits on Hare's Psychopathy Checklist include Glibness/Superficial Charm and Cunning/Manipulative which are supposed to be very Extroverted traits. You seem to think that a psychopath must have Fe as its Quaternary Inferior Function, which is a misconception. A successful psychopath uses Fe regularly in order to blend into society and such use of selective Fe (the use for ulterior purposes without holding the tool in intrinsic value unlike xxFJs) would suggest the function being tertiary as it is a function developed over time and is not the person's natural way of viewing things. Indeed, I have found most psychopaths I have tested to be ENTP and indeed many ENTPs not possessing the disorder have managed to identify with far more of the traits on the checklist than other types.
 
R

ReflecTcelfeR

Guest
Oh, well. Alright, nevermind then. Thank you for the information.
 

catalyst

New member
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
15
MBTI Type
INTP
Be that as it may (Echidna. Good info, thanks.) ---- I think the concept interesting from a socially interpretive view, despite the general misconceptions about what sociopathic behavior really entails. I too, have been labelled by degreed psychologists who were frustrated by not being able to 'read' me like they were other clients. Like I scrambled his system or something. The only other INTP I know irl, male, has had the sociopath label, among others violently flung at him in various conflicts with S/F. Of course, he's also been called an emotionless robot, which I do not find accurate at all.

There must be some value to the number of INTP's who have experienced this labelling - I tend to use it to modify my behavior into more invisible ways of being. Social shame and embarrassment have a profound effect on me. I expect to be different - can handle that - don't like being 'taken by surprise' by something.
 

Katharsis

New member
Joined
Sep 29, 2010
Messages
15
MBTI Type
INTJ
Not being emotionally expressive =/= sociopathy

I have not read too much about sociopathy, but a textbook psychopath would be an ESTP.
 

Mr. Sherlock Holmes

Consulting Detective
Joined
Aug 10, 2010
Messages
1,450
MBTI Type
JiNe
Enneagram
5W4
Yeah, most common psychopaths I would imagine would be ESTP, ENTP, INTJ and ENTJ. And maybe ENFJ.
 

Katharsis

New member
Joined
Sep 29, 2010
Messages
15
MBTI Type
INTJ
A psychopath is no planner. He is destructive and focus only on the present moment. He possesses a shallow kind of charm and is a pathological liar. His lies though are most often inconsistent and ill-planned, thus easy to spot. When confronted with his lies, the pyschopath will just act like he never told that lie or cover it up with another one. He is also a lazy person who will try to manipulate others into doing what he wants. A real psychopath is nothing like the "movie-psychopath"; an ultra-intelligent schemer with aristocratic manners, who's hellbent for world domination.

As a rule, they do not possess superior intelligence. Just like the rest of us, they are all over the intellectual spectrum, ranging from "poorly gifted" to "genius". I'd say that a real life-psycho is not intuitive at all, in the MBTI sense. Most likely they are Se users (often their dominant function) coupled with shallow Fe used to charm and manipulate. They are not in any way representative of ESTP's, but I would say that most psychopaths would fit the ESTP function order.
 

mrcockburn

Aquaria
Joined
Jan 3, 2010
Messages
1,896
MBTI Type
¥¤
Enneagram
3w4
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
I've been called that so many times, it's completely meaningless. It's just that my life doesn't revolve around others. Doesn't make me a cold-blooded killer.
 

Moiety

New member
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
5,996
MBTI Type
ISFJ
^ nope. It only makes you a potential cold-blooded killer.
 

Stanton Moore

morose bourgeoisie
Joined
Mar 4, 2009
Messages
3,900
MBTI Type
INFP
I bet a lot of young INTP's like the idea that they might be considered sociopaths. It's like cart blanche for acting like an prick/knowitall.
 
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