The difference is the tolerance for violence. Sociopaths are generally manipulative and shitty, but not violent. Psychopaths seem to derive some pleasure from violence, usually. There is some overlap, of course, but a true psychopath is worse than a sociopath because they have no moral or social boundaries.
A sociopath generally retains a sense of what is right and wrong more than the psychopath. Where an opportunity arises for a sociopath to make money at someone else's expense, they can recognize it is wrong and would disapprove of someone else doing it.
A psychopath generally regards societal norms as merely a boundary that can be violated when no one is looking.
The sociopath will hate getting caught, but will still experience the moral outrage when someone else does wrong. They feel the rules don't apply to them.
A psychopath will also hate getting caught, but can only feign outrage at the wrong doing of others because they have learned that is "how people are." Not only do they feel the rules don't apply to them, they see rule followers as weak.
A sociopath generally retains a sense of what is right and wrong more than the psychopath.
A sociopath knows what society defines as right and wrong, and is able to follow those social rules when he makes the effort, but he doesn't feel these differences within himself.
A psychopath is so out of touch with reality, he has a hard time following society's rules, which of course mean nothing to him. His inner crazy dictates his actions.
Some psychopaths areable to function quite well in society.
Stupid ones end up dead or in jail. Smart ones end up as CEOs and high level politicians.
The same goes for sociopaths. However, high level sociopaths... once you know how to deal with them... are relatively easy to manage. A smart psychopath is pretty nasty to deal with, because they resist even heavy leverage against them and will double down on dishonesty or threats until someone loses.
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