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Understand Passive Aggressive Behavior With Examples

Charlie S
Passive aggressive behavior is seen in many people belonging to all age groups. So, let us know more about it with the help of some examples given here.
Passive aggressive people have a tendency of expressing their anger or frustration in a silent way, instead of expressing it directly. In our daily, we may encounter such people and hence we should be aware of their mindset. Let us discuss the traits of such people, along with some suitable examples for better understanding.

Personality Traits

Passive aggressive people are irritating, confused and low on confidence. They can't express their feelings and convey them by doing some unusual things.
This can be explained with simple examples. Let's say you ask a friend of yours to drop you to your relatives place by car. When you make this request, your friend says yes and commits that he will certainly be there.
However, when he has to fulfill his promise, he will just not turn up, leaving you frustrated and left with no option but to cancel your entire program. When you do ask your friend the reason why he did not turn up, he will give you some sort of excuse and try to prove that he did nothing wrong.
However, the truth in this case is that he actually does not want you to go to your relative's place due to reasons best known to him. However, instead of saying it to you directly and inviting your anger, he dealt with the situation in a way such that his motive is fulfilled without making his impression go wrong.
This is one of the best examples of passive aggressive behavior, which will help you know the nature and behavioral ways of such people. Such behavior is sometimes also seen in people working in corporate companies.
If a certain employee talks ill about his co-worker to other employees, in his absence, then this can surely be a sign of passive aggressive behavior. In this case, the employee should ideally discuss his problems with the concerned person directly, instead of making the matter public by involving other employees.
People displaying such behavior always try to show that they are a victim or totally innocent. They use sarcastic language to convey their feelings, which can really hurt people close to them. They have a negative attitude towards life and this constantly reflects from their behavior.

How to Deal With Passive Aggressive People

It can be quite difficult to deal with passive aggressive people at times. If you think that a person with such a personality will create a problem for you at an important time, then you should always be ready with an alternative plan, so that you complete your task on time.
In the given example, instead of depending on your friend fully, you could have made some arrangement such as requesting another friend whom you trust to make up the loss caused by the first friend.
Another suggestion for dealing with such people is to speak about the issue frankly with them and tell them how their behavior is causing you problems. You can ask them to be careful next time and not play with your emotions.
You should understand that changing people with this personality disorder is not an instant process. So, keep trying with a positive attitude and wait for these people to show a change in behavior.