Techniques Passive Aggressive People Use to Get Under Your Skin

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where someone agrees to do it your way only to then violate your plans and do everything possible for the sake of your failure? This behavior is called passive-aggressive. 

This is an expression of negative emotions, resentment and anger in a restrained form. It is accompanied by subtle comments and actions showing a person’s disagreement or dissatisfaction with the planned action plan.

Techniques Passive Aggressive People Use

Unfortunately, we all deal with passive-aggressive behavior in one way or another. A work colleague who is always ready to complain about something can have it. Or from dissatisfied service workers. Even at home with your partner or child (in particular if they had a bad day).

Techniques Passive Aggressive People Use to Get Under Your Skin

But how can one determine a passive-aggressive mood in real life? And how to repulse this attitude?

Techniques Passive Aggressive People Use:

1. Boycott

Having agreed to do something in a certain way, a person begins to avoid you. When you try to talk to him, he is laconic, gives short answers and refuses to get involved in the topic of conversation or gives a cold welcome.

2. Gloomy look – Techniques Passive Aggressive People Use

We all watched children like this, but adults are no exception. If a person does not get what he wants, he begins to get upset and angry, depriving a good mood of any place where he appears.

3. Forgetfulness

First, the person agrees to help you with the assignment, and then just does nothing. He refers to the fact that he “forgot”, but in reality, did not even think of helping. Or he just takes time until you (or someone else) do it all yourself.

4. Productivity- Techniques Passive Aggressive People Use

Instead of abandoning the assignment, this person is engaged in it, but does it very casually and does not make much effort. Outside, he shows his support, but the discrepancy between the results of work and expectations shows his real intentions.

5. Taunts

Such people resort to ambiguous jokes and sarcasm, thereby experiencing and undermining your self-esteem or just wanting to pat your nerves. These individuals try to behave ambiguously, but perfectly understand what they are doing.

How to fight back passively aggressive person?

Typically, these people will deny having a problem. They may refer to ignorance or even refuse to acknowledge their feelings of anger or negativity. In other cases, a person who regularly resortes to toxic behavior does not even understand what he is doing, but from this his words and actions are no less unpleasant.

How to effectively resist a passively aggressive person?

Since he refuses to take control of his negative feelings, you must help him do this.

Psychotherapist Signe Witson writes: “This is not arrogant, angry, or authoritarian tactics that make you admit your mistake. This is the skill of a calm and balanced verbal response, with the help of which a person delicately but openly shares his thoughts regarding the conduct of another person. ”

Simply put, you want to talk with a person and find out the cause of the problem.

To do this, you must clearly and clearly convey to him your feelings and expectations. If it seems that you know the cause of someone else’s aggression, ask if you are right in your guesses. If the answer is no, take the person’s word for it, but try to continue the conversation. If appropriate, take the first step and apologize for anything you could offend, asking how you can rectify the situation.

As a rule, your sincere interest will make your interlocutor change their behavior. Having identified the problem, you will work out a solution that will suit each of you.

Follow the suggested tips, you will quickly make feelings work not against you, but for you.