Passive aggressive behavior is exhibited by people who have a manipulative attitude within their personality. This behavior is largely characterized by stubbornness and unwillingness to agree with a situation. Although they tend to comply with the requests of others, they fail to finish the task assigned to them on time or won’t do them in a useful way. Showing up very late for a meeting or forgetting important dates - such as birthdays and anniversaries are some of the common traits of passive aggressive behavior. Such people also become impersonal, at times, and end up causing harm to their intimate relationships.
Passive aggressive people often suppress their anger and inculcate negative feelings in them, which they show in an indirect and obstructive way. They prefer the non-verbal way of expressing their anger. The root cause of this behavior is believed to be the inability of a person to express resentment in a healthy manner, acceptable by everyone. People around them may also get annoyed by their inefficiency, forgetfulness, lateness and offensive behavior. Given below are the common traits of passive aggressive behavior.
Passive Aggressive Behavior Traits
Passive aggressive people often suppress their anger and inculcate negative feelings in them, which they show in an indirect and obstructive way. They prefer the non-verbal way of expressing their anger. The root cause of this behavior is believed to be the inability of a person to express resentment in a healthy manner, acceptable by everyone. People around them may also get annoyed by their inefficiency, forgetfulness, lateness and offensive behavior. Given below are the common traits of passive aggressive behavior.
Passive Aggressive Behavior Traits
- Procrastination: Passive aggressive people have the tendency to overlook deadlines. They work according to their own time schedule, without bothering about those who expect their work to be done in a different way or at least, to be completed on time.
- Delay: Never expect a passive aggressive person to reach anywhere on time. You should not wonder why he/she is late for a lunch date or birthday party – the person actually wants you to wait for him/her.
- Forgetfulness: A passive aggressive person wants to be freed from responsibilities. Such people often use this technique of ‘selective forgetting’ as a tool to avoid an obligation.
- Ambiguity: One of the visible traits of passive aggressive behavior is ambiguity. The person exuding such behavior rarely means what he/she says or does.
- Blame Game: Passive aggressive people blame others for their own actions. They would hold others as responsible for the wrong deeds that they do. Moreover, they think that others should be punished for their faults.
- Fear of Dependency: The fear of dependency haunts passive aggressive people. In this process, they try to acquire control over others.
- Fear of Intimacy: Passive aggressive people are also very afraid of getting too intimate. The emotional fragility makes them pick up fights to maintain a distance with people who are close to them. This fear of intimacy often leads them to loose trust in their loved ones.
- Thought of Being Oppressed: Passive aggressive people often think that they are not treated fairly. According to them, they are the innocent victims of oppressive treatment. Worst is the case, when they become offensive on seeing that you are upset due to their behavior.
