This friend was worried that they might be a sociopath. Thankfully, most true sociopaths, when faced with the question of whether or not they are a sociopath, will adamantly deny the possibility--so the fact that my friend was worried about this probably means that they are not a sociopath. In addition, I do not believe that they meet the DSM-5 criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder, which are the diagnostic criteria most closely describing a "sociopath."
However, I am still looking forward to this experiment. In a couple of months, I will present a sad story to this friend and see if they react in an empathetic or cold, uncaring manner.
Aside from this experiment and the criteria, I am of the opinion that everyone has antisocial traits. Even if one does not meet all the criteria, there still may be instances in which one lacks empathy for another based on the context of the situation, as research on the mediating effects of antisocial traits between drinking and partner violence suggests. Essentially, we all have the potential at any moment, based on a whole lot of variables, to be sociopaths.
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