On the Psychology Behind Comic Book Characters

Regular CBR contributor, Sonia Harris, wrote an interesting article on psychopathy and the superhero (and supervillain), but her analysis is marred but a fundamental misunderstanding of psychopathic personalities. Most of the comments suffer from similar flaws, though all seem to be working from basically the same source(s).

I am no doctor, but allow me to offer that psychopathy and sociopathy are not the same thing. True psychopaths literally cannot feel emotion, including intellectual superiority. Granted, this is the most extreme form of the disorder, but in order to be considered "psychopathic," it has to be present in some form at all levels. Psychopathic people are almost never able to truly comprehend, on an internal level, that what they do is wrong because they are unable to empathize with those negatively affected by their actions.

In fact, though semantic, one of the primary differences between sociopaths and psychopaths is that the former can at least sympathize with his victims. Sociopaths understand that they are hurting others, they just don't care; this is what makes them Evil. Psychopaths are fundamentally flawed in their emotional makeup (and it is not necessarily genetic / hardwired, although that is a popular outlook in the psychological community), so they cannot be held responsible for their actions -- legally or psychologically.

Psychopaths, whether genetically predisposed to lack feeling or conditioned to do so, are Disaffected Personalities who do not fit-in to society, though they may not make enough waves to draw attention to themselves or their actions. They lack social skills because they fail to relate to others. Genius-level people are not necessarily psychopathic, though they often suffer from similar social problems. Genius-level intellects tend to feel anxiety, depression, and distance from individuals in social situations; psychopaths feel nothing -- they simply cannot relate. Geniuses often fit the profile of Disaffected Personalities, though they do not always identify with, nor behave according to, said profile.

Sociopaths fit into society with little problem, as they not only know how to manipulate others, they actually get-off on it. They most certainly do feel intellectual and emotional superiority to their victims, and they choose victims -- another differentiation between the two types. Sociopaths make plans and plot against others; psychopaths do not (though they may scheme for a specific goal, they rarely have the social skills necessary to manipulate or involve others in their machinations).

It's a good article and some of the comments raise some interesting points, but the conversation is flawed.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010