Are sociopaths capable of feeling sadness guilt or regret and do they ever feel bad even if it is only for themselves?

Answer 1

Sociopaths and feelings

• Sociopaths have NO conscience, though they know the difference between right and wrong. So they don't experience remorse or a sense of guilt. Usually they even have great difficulty owning their actions. In other words, they often can't even bring themselves to say, "Yes, I did this" if it's something society disapprove of.

• Another key characteristic of sociopaths is callousness and lack of empathy, so genuine sadness for others is something they aren't capable of.

• Many sociopaths are quite good actors. They know how to pretend to show sympathy and so on. Sometimes they give themselves away by displaying exaggerated or even melodramatic sympathy that doesn't ring true. Always look out for uncalled for drama.

• As for 'feeling bad for themselves', it usually takes the form of aggressive self-pity. As they can't accept responsibility for their own actions, they blame their misfortunes on others.
• Sociopaths are sharks in deep water. Sociopaths absolutely have no conscience and that also includes the law. To them laws are to be broken and they do not adhere to the regular social lives of others. Sociopaths don't even have pity for themselves because they have no conscience. They are callous, unforgiving, cruel and get great pleasure out of demeaning, harming another human being (even in some cases animals.) When looking into a Sociopath's eyes it's like looking at "shark eyes" ... dark, unmoving and dangerous!
• That "eye thing" has to do with a number of factors -- a sociopath will stare almost unblinkingly into another person's eyes because they watch people's reactions far more closely than most people. Why? Most other people are much better at reading each others' emotions, and at hearing what emotion is present in other people's voices. Thus, when a sociopath is "acting" and displaying tears, or some such, it is considered excessive or unreal because the tone of voice may be incongruous or the chosen words may not fit the emotion being synthesized.
• The state that a sociopath is in during a display of emotion such as weeping is simply like mental "static" -- a generalized discomfort that is almost impossible to differentiate and is then focused on getting some kind of substitute gratification. Without a conscience, it isn't possible to influence other people the way most people do, so sociopaths do it by manipulation, although sometimes what they display comes pretty close to what they'd be feeling in a given situation if they were instead normal.
• As for the eyes and emotion, many sociopaths display a sadistic glint of glee as they abandon themselves to depraved behavior and subject their victims to excruciating pain. At such moments they experience intense pleasure and may even laugh excitedly with joy.