In popular culture, we hear a lot about “antisocial” people, and there are certainly many dictionary definitions out there. Bet here is what it means to have have an antisocial people in our life, from direct experience:
Antisocial people appear initially extremely likable and charming. But their personality is false, and they secretly lie and manipulate in order to bend people to their ego’s needs. They have no qualms breaking the law or damaging people, relationships, or businesses in order get what they want.
When reading about anti social behavior, it can be easy to forget about the real human cost of such people. Here are the most common types of antisocial behavior, in simple terms, and what you can do about it.
Lack of Ethics or Morals
Antisocial people seem to operate without that innate sense of right and wrong that most people have to help guide there decisions. While they put on a good face, internally they don’t really understand why they shouldn’t use every means at their disposal to get ahead.
It can be difficult to gauge if antisocial people have this lack of morality directly by what they say, in most cases. Anti-social people almost always develop a habit of faking a certain amount of ethical behavior in order to fit in in society as they grow up. Only in extreme cases will their lack of a moral compass manifest overtly to external observers.
At a fundamental level, anti-social people lack that sinking feeling in their gut or chest when they do something that harms other people. This is the subconscious urge to morality that almost every human being has, and the very same reason that even young children feel bad when they have done something wrong.
For a functioning sociopaths and psychopaths especially, they often take measures to mask or fake an emotional response that they are not feeling in order to hide their usual lack of emotion from others.
Relentlessly Lie to Exploit
To an antisocial person, there is no lie too big, so long as they can get away with it. In a similar manner to the lack of moral emotional response described above, anti-social individuals will often have no emotional aversion to lying.
Surprisingly enough, however, psychopaths were found to be just as likely to fail a polygraph lie detector test if they are lying as a non-antisocial person. However, psychopaths are more likely to fail a polygraph even if they are telling the truth, which may indicate that rather than feeling like their falsehoods are the truth, they internally feel like their truths are falsehoods, making it difficult to emotionally differentiate the two.
In any case, using their words to get what they want from people is a core aspect of the antisocial mode of operating. Catching antisocial people in repeated and inexcusable lies can be a great way of identifying them, but often as not their untruths go undetected by anyone who could stop them, as they tend to be very skilled at covering up their behavior. This is doubly true for the psychopath antisocial personality, which is generally much more adept at deception as compared to sociopath verities.
Exhibit Criminal Behavior
Criminal behavior is extremely common in all forms of antisocial personality types, although it is not absolutely necessary in order to consider a person to be antisocial.
Antisocial individuals generally take to crime as a consequence of their other behavioral traits. That is they naturally lie, lack ethics and morals, act impulsively and violently; and often this behavior ends up running counter to the law or social norms. However, happenstance may have it that an antisocial individual happens to not break any law in the course of their normal activities.
Unlike some criminal types, which break the law for the fun or excitement of committing a crime, antisocial individuals don’t have any particular draw to crimes in particular. From them crime isn’t particularly exciting, but rather a means to a desired end in that particular situation in which they find themselves.
Abusive in Relationships
Antisocial people almost always engage in some form abuse of their partners and loved ones in close relationships, and especially intimate relationships. This can take many forms, ranging from overt violence down to subtle emotional manipulation and gaslighting.
Two factors that contribute to this are increased impulsively and higher rates of “instrumental violence”. Sociopaths and psychopaths are prone to impulsive behavior that ignores social bounds or ethical bounds, instead focusing on their personal gratification. They also are much more likely to use their violence as a means of reaching an end, rather than just a means to hurt target.
Aggressive or Violent
Antisocial individuals are much more likely to be aggressive or violent in what are otherwise normal situations.
More often than not, this takes the form of emotional violence, which can include behaviors such as —
- Repeated lying in order to manipulate the perceived facts of the situation
- Malicious non-compliance
- Gaslighting (intentionally making you doubt your own experiences)
- Accusations and making you the enemy
- Threats of violence
However, there are cases when antisocial people will engage in any of a number of forms of actual physical violence against humans and animals. And, the threat of such violence should not be taken lightly.
Complete Lack of Empathy or Remorse
Probably the most distinguishing factor that differentiates antisocial people from the rest of the population is their lack of natural emotional response to the harm of others.
Almost all human beings have a subconscious empathy with those around them, especially those who they consider to be in their same social group. This prevents or limits the amount of harm that they are willing to do to others, because they also feel reproductions of their actions in their own body.
Antisocial individuals have a much reduced or non-existent emotional response to pain in others. This makes them much more able and willing to exert violence, breaking social boundaries.
They will not feel bad for their infractions. Although, they may act like they feel remorse in order to avoid further scrutiny, if they get caught.
Impulsive Risk Taking
Antisocial people tend to show very little concern for the consequences of their actions. This leads to them to exhibit risk behavior, possibly including —
- Fast or dangerous driving
- Participating in extreme sports
- Unprotected and promiscuous sex
- Overconfidence in the face of violent conflict
- Dependence on drugs and alcohol
While some antisocial people may be upfront with their actions, others may attempt hide their impulsive behavior behind rationalizations or deception.
Violate the Rights of Others
To antisocial people, the rights of others are meaningless and not worth considering.
Either, they will give no thought to reciprocity — treating others as you want to be treated — or they will have a rationalization narrative than explains their reasoning as to why their target’s rights deserve to be violated.
Violation of rights can take the form of —
- Violation of their victim’s privacy
- Physical restraint
- Economical and social pressures that limit freedom
- Theft of destruction of property
- Malicious lies
Sense of Superiority
Antisocial people almost always feel that they are better or superior to other people. That the normal rules don’t apply to them.
Both psychopaths and sociopaths use this belief to rationalize their aggressive and destructive behaviors.
So long as a sociopath sees some benefit to themselves, no price that other people would have to pay is too high to bear.
Related Questions
What are anti social activities?
Anti social activities are any behaviors that are likely to cause emotional or physical harm. And, which are perpetrated due to an egoistic need without consideration or remorse for the potential damage to others. Usually these activities stem from a psychological dysfunction.
