Sadistic personality, main characteristics

There are people who enjoy seeing the suffering of others and, worse, being the cause of the same. In many cases, this responds to a Salsal personality disorder. In this article we will see what it consists of and how to recognize it.

Characteristics of a sadistic personality

First, let's know what personality is. When talking about personality in psychology, patterns of thoughts, beliefs, ways of seeing world and behaviors that are acquired since we are born and through our experiences are alluded to.

Not all patterns that develop are healthy, as many can be dysfunctional. This is the case of sadistic personality disorder, since the people who suffer from it They are harmful to other people around and cause suffering in them.

Identifying a sadistic personality is not very difficult, since the behaviors of this type of subjects are quite recognizable. They are subject with behavior that can become quite aggressive, transferring the limits of cruelty.

These use violence to express their evil, going from physical violence to humiliations and vexations. Besides, They feel a manifest pleasure in recognizing suffering In the person who is hurting.

It is a pathological pattern that the person manifests continuously. That is, it is not about isolated facts, which would respond to other types of disorder or situation, but is a phenomenon that happens regularly in the behavior of the person who suffers from it.

Cruelty would be, without a doubt, the best form of detect when a person has a sadistic personality disorder. These individuals enjoy domination for pleasure and exercise violence over third parties.

Among the most common features of sadistic personality are that are very prone people to control situations. This translate that they are controlling and accustomed people to limit the freedom of the people around.

In many cases, the sadistic person manifests his sadism through sex. There are many sadistic drives related to this aspect of our lives. They also usually show an excessive interest in violence and death.

What aspects cause sadistic personality

In principle there is no scientific evidence about what are the causes of sadistic personality disorder. What is deduced is that there may be some biochemical alteration in the brain that causes these behavior patterns.

Beyond that, in This disorder There is a very strong learning component. For example, it is common in people who have lived during their childhood with abuse or violence in the family, or who have been victims of sexual abuse.

Therefore, in these types of cases it would be people who develop this disorder through learning and experience. In that sense, it is a different disorder to diseases such as psychopathy, which is caused by other alterations in the brain and responds to different causes.

Even so, it is true that they are closely linked, that the personality of a psychopath usually shows sadistic behavior. However, as we say, not all people with sadistic personality have to be necessarily psychopaths and vice versa.

The most important identification of sadistic personality is that gets a pleasure or reward for situations of suffering caused by himself. This does not always happen in people suffering from psychopathy.

As for the violence and limits of legality, we must know that a sadistic person does not have to commit acts outside the law to apply their damage. That is, an individual can be sadistic without violating social norms or laws.

This can cause suffering by other ways without resorting to committing crimes punishable by law. Keep in mind that, although they are people who enjoy humiliation and pain of others, it does not imply that they have to commit a crime.

Even so, it is true that people who have this type of personality disorder They usually incur this type of criminal acts. This is the case of, for example, serial killers, in which you can clearly appreciate a tendency to have this type of disorder.

Sexual aggressions and abuses are also related to this type of disorder. However, there are few evidence about the sadistic personality, although there is a notable trend.

In summary, sadistic personality is a disorder that can be caused by many aspects. The important thing before a subject with this disorder is to recognize it and, if it is part of our circle, help you control these impulses.

References

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