FEATURE ARTICLES. THE SOCIOPATH- A DANGER ALL AROUND US. PT 13

Basically, the FUNCTIONAL SOCIOPATH achieves success in short-term relationships.  They know what their Personal Wants, Desires, and Needs are, and what must be done to realize these goals.

Each person they encounter will be evaluated by the role they can play in helping the Functional Sociopath acquire whatever they want;

1)  Is this individual likely to remain a casual acquaintance at best, so little time will be spent cultivating a personal relationship.  All interaction

will be superficial at most.

2)  Will they help satisfy a need that must be met, so attempting to establish a "Friendship" would be worth a certain amount of time and effort?

3)  Can this be the rare person(s) who will fulfill multiple roles in the life of a Functioning Sociopath, and must be drawn into the web of lies and deceit at all costs?

In the first two examples the skill of the Functioning Sociopath is able to bring in or cast aside these individuals with little effort.  Many people that they claim as "Friends," are simply tools to use on a short-term basis.  They will satisfy specific and usually short-term needs.  Once this is done, they will be suddenly dumped or cast aside by the Functional Sociopath. 

Why? Because there are always more like them living in society, so the Functional Sociopath jettisons these friends with little thought or remorse.

This is the flaw in the personality of the Functional Sociopath.  Going through friends is a constant theme in their lives.  Too often, once the short-term goal is reached, the Functional Sociopath casts aside persons who may have, down the road, again become a valuable asset.  This results in few, if any, lifelong relationships.

In the third example, we have the Functional Sociopath attempting to evaluate the individual in terms of long-term worth or value. They often lack the discipline to do this, so their lives are in constant chaos.  This is what sets them apart from the ACCOMPLISHED SOCIOPATH.  They quite simply cannot contain their true nature for any great length of time, when dealing with specific individuals.

So what does this say about the FAILED SOCIOPATH?

See PT 14.