Is President Obama a sociopath

Answer 1

There is no way to be sure, because that requires extensive personality testing and analysis by a mental health professional.

Sociopath is a term which means someone who behaves in a psychopathic manner because of genetic and/or environmental factors, but is not actually a Psychopath. Treatment and/or experiences in childhood and adolescence can trigger these personality problems. Genetic susceptibility can play a role. Sociopaths are characteristically risk-taking, impulsive, ruthless, grandiose ad irresponsible financially and/or otherwise. They have trouble formulating and conforming to their own or another's plan. Sociopaths are often deceitful, charming and manipulative.

The term, Sociopath, can also refer to a Psychopath who is able to refrain from overtly criminal activity and may therefore never come into contact with the Criminal Justice system or forensic psychologists, yet manipulates, bullies and destroys those around him or her in a psychopathic manner, and enages in thrill seeking and unethical behaviour without delving into illegality.

A true Psychopath is defined as someone scoring greater than 26 - 30 (depending on the jurisdiction) out of 40 on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. This definition is under continual review, as it's now recognised that senior execs in Corporations, for example, often show a range of psychopathic traits (glib charm, narcissism, ruthlessness, lack of anxiety or fear) demanded by their positions without neccessarily breaking the law, and a high score on the Psychopathy checklist requires the subject to exhibit a consistent pattern of law-breaking behaviour. Such people might meet the second definition of Sociopathy above.

In the US Psychopathy is lumped in with ASPD, or Anti-Social Personality Disorder. This is highly controversial. Most criminals have ASPD, and while it's probably accurate to say all Psychopaths have ASPD, not all people with ASPD are Psychopaths.

Most "Sociopaths" would also be defined as having ASPD, but a Sociopath (if we use the first definition above), can feel love, empathy and emotional attachment and rehabilitation may be possible.

Barak Obama had a difficult childhood. His real father was distant geographically and emotionally. His genetic father was far away geographically and emotionally. Obama was allowed to stay with his grandparents in Hawaii as long as he "kept his trouble to himself" he said in his book, Dreams from My Father. Obama was a delinquent we know because he confesses chronic use of illegal drugs in high school and college. He seems to have had no trouble academically at school and he went to Harvard. This indicates that he knows how to behave to obtain his goals.The way in which Obama came to power was mired in accusations of rigging. Obama has told many lies to the American people. He has been forced to admit only the obvious ones.

True Psychopaths cannot feel love or emotional attachment. Their lives are characterised by extreme grandiose and narcissistic behaviour, abuse of those around them, abusive relationships and a pattern of lying and inter-personal exploitativeness.

Clearly Barak Obama loves his children and married his co-worker. Only his wife, Michelle Obama, and his daughters only know if there is a narcissistic, psychopathic or sociopathic disturbance in his family life. He certainly does not seem like a Psychopath.

His fondness for burgers, beer and golf shows some narcissistic character traits. A healthy ego is essential for someone who is going to make massive decisions in this imperfect world shorn of absolute rights and wrongs. Interestingly though, Obama reportedly had said he was going to be President of the U.S. during his youth.

Truly Narcissistic or Psychopathic heads of state were people such as King Henry VIII of England, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Robert Mugabe, Idi Amin or Saddam Hussein, and there's clearly a huge difference between them and Barak Obama. To summarize, the answer to this question of whether Obama is a Sociopath is not clear, but it is unlikely to be the case. He is definitely not a Psychopath.