30 Jul 2022

150

Narcissism and Sociopathy: What's the Difference?

Format: APA

Academic level: College

Paper type: Research Paper

Words: 1171

Pages: 4

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Axiology refers to the study of values. Values are known to be the driving guidelines in the activities that people take part in their daily lives (Schenck, 2012) . There are two main kinds of values: ethics and aesthetics. As ethics mainly embraces the concepts of right and wrong, aesthetics follows up on beauty and harmony. Business ethics refers to the sets of norms and values aimed at governing the behaviors and actions of individuals in a business organization. The set guidelines are usually in place to create a healthy business environment and ensure proper competitiveness. Normative business ethics are ethics viewed to emphasize the moral correctness and incorrectness of an action (Solomon, 1992). It is focused on the actions being right rather than being legal. Examples of ways in which the business ethics and integrity is portrayed are through honesty in selling where a business person provides a product similar to what he or she advertised. Over the years narcissists and people with sociopathic traits have been seen to achieve more success than the average business person, and it has been attributed to their actions. A person with sociopathic traits can be characterized by being a cold, calculating individual who is constantly manipulative, fearless, lacks emotion, irresponsible and lies unapologetically. 

The fearlessness which characterizes sociopaths is a trait that proves to be helpful in the business environment. Taking business risks always seems to be a walk in the park for sociopaths as their calculative nature and fearlessness enable them to take issues head-on with no fear of failure. A narcissist is a person who seems to show an excessive self-admiration. The fearlessness character is one that also applies to a narcissistic individual, and it ensures the capability of taking considerable risks in confidence (Campbell, 2009). Lack of fear is also a trait that seems to translate to a lack of shame in some of the individuals. The lack of remorse is at a trait that allows for business people to venture into activities explore quire methods, fail and succeed without feeling the pressure of people’s judgment. The narcissistic and sociopathic character to lacking shame is one that allows the individuals to pursue goals in life without caring for the people they hurt in the process. It is an attitude of doing whatever they like without giving a thought of how it will affect others (Schenck, 2012) . People with sociopathic tendencies have often been mistaken to be pursuing their competitions in their strive for success, this is, however, not true. 

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Calmness is another trait is attributed to the Sociopaths. They can go through very emotional experiences but fail to show reactions like other people. Even in the scariest situations where it is expected for people to panic, this group of people acts as if everything is normal. The narcissists also show some form of calmness even though not in extreme experiences. Because narcissists have great confidence in themselves, they tend to be calm, and they can handle situations that most people may find challenging and risky. Calmness enables an individual to run a business more successfully. Although there are situations that require one to respond emotionally to address them, lack of peace may offer more disadvantages. Calmness helps one to make sober decisions which translate to success in business. When there is a delay in delivery of urgently needed goods, a relaxed manager is more likely to think of an immediate solution than a panicked one. Making quick decisions under emotional control can prove to be costly. A manager can quickly fire a junior worker who has failed in his/her duties because of the impulsive decision only to realize later that it was a mistake. A good businessperson is one who can contain his/her emotions when dealing with customers and employees, and to do that calmness is vital. 

Irresponsibility is one trait that is commonly shared by narcissists and people with sociopathic tendencies, irresponsibility in the sense that they ignore moral responsibilities so long as they do not hinder their success plan (Andrews & Harvey, 1991). A narcissistic individual is often viewed to be keen and focused on their business strategies. It is a character that ensures that they are solely focused on their business goals without any distractions brought about by empathy. Irresponsibility in the business sector would be a case where an individual refrains from joining other businesses in contesting a controversially imposed law simply because it has no immediate effect on his or her company. It is not damaging to the company, but then again it is not beneficial. 

As there are pros to the discussed traits, narcissist and sociopaths also exhibit the behaviors that may not support their businesses or rather have a charming effect in the business world. Such vices are their tendencies to lie. Lying is a vice that might seem to be beneficial at the time, but once it is revealed, the damage is hard to fix, especially in the business world. Lying about side effects of products to sell more and gain more profit could prove costly in case of a served lawsuit or eventual loss of customers (Rauthmann & Kolar, 2013). Another trait is their manipulative nature. People like to build businesses and relationships through trust as opposed to an idea of manipulation. Although manipulating people gives quick expected results, the result is losing friends, partners, and customers once the intention of the prior relationship is revealed. The lack of empathy is a trait that is not very pleasant to portray (Schenck, 2012) . Although it may make one a stern business person, it breaks relationships and connections to people. If a junior employee is fired for a small mistake, he or she did without taking into consideration the previous good works done, and it may be damaging and cause a sticking hatred towards the employer. The human interaction is based on making exceptions to support each other; although this may not create the ideal success story then, it builds a much substantial strength in the future business. 

Many studies have shown that even though narcissism and sociopathy are mental disorders, having healthy amounts of traits goes a long way in making one achieve the goals that they want. Healthy narcissism has been tipped to lower stress levels making one less likely to lash out in the frenzied kind of life that a business person can often experience. A little dose of confidence and self-esteem in the workplace has also been seen to create a suitable push on an individual regarding picking up from a failed attempt at achieving a specific goal. It is a trait that enables one to believe in their capabilities to power through stressful situations and competitions. Narcissism and sociopathy are seen as disorders that carry attributes that may make or break a person’s life depending on how extreme the disorder is. People who are sociopaths and those perceived to exhibit the traits have often been seen to be quite successful due to their nature of a manipulative, focused, and non-empathetic lifestyle. Even though some of the attributes they possess may not be in line with the human beings’ idea of moral conduct, portraying small doses of these attributes has been tipped to bring success. A good businessman is shown as one who exhibits good traits of narcissism and sociopathy. 

References  

Andrews, G., & Harvey, R. (1981). Does psychotherapy benefit neurotic patients?: A reanalysis of the Smith, Glass, and Miller data. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38(11), 1203-1208. 

Campbell, W. K., & Campbell, S. M. (2009). On the self-regulatory dynamics created by the peculiar benefits and costs of narcissism: A contextual reinforcement model and examination of leadership. Self and Identity, 8(2-3), 214-232. 

Rauthmann, J. F., & Kolar, G. P. (2013). The perceived attractiveness and traits of the Dark Triad: Narcissists are perceived as hot, Machiavellians and psychopaths not. Personality and Individual Differences, 54(5), 582-586. 

Schenck, K. (2012). A Christian philosophical journey . Indiana: Triangle Publishing. 

Solomon, R. C. (1992). Ethics and Excellence: Cooperation and integrity in business. 

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