History
The term "passive-aggressive" was introduced in a 1945 U.S. War Department technical bulletin, describing soldiers who weren't openly insubordinate but shirked duty through procrastination, willful incompetence, and so on. After the war the term found its way into civilian psychiatric practice and for many years was listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the bible of the mental health trade. According to the revised third edition (DSM-III-R, 1987), someone had PAPD if he displayed five or more of the following behaviors: (1) procrastinates, (2) sulks or argues when asked to do something he doesn't want to do, (3) works inefficiently on unwanted tasks, (4) complains without justification of unreasonable demands, (5) "forgets" obligations, (6) believes he is doing a much better job than others think, (7) resents useful suggestions, (8) fails to do his share, or (9) unreasonably criticizes authority figures.
What is it and why it drives me nuts?
Passive-aggressive behavior is a pattern of expressing your negative feelings in an indirect way — instead of openly addressing them. People who are passive-aggressive appear to agree with the requests of others. They may even seem enthusiastic about them. But they don't perform a requested action on time or in a useful way, and may even work against it. In other words, they use nonverbal behavior to express anger or resentment that they can't express verbally.
Because the passive-aggressive person inherently believes they are blameless, innocent, and basically good people, anything that threatens that view of themselves threatens the very core of their being. They live in a world where they must conceal all the "awful" things about themselves at all costs.
When dealing with a passive-aggressive person, one can feel frustrated, offended, guilty or confused. While not intended, you may leave the encounter thinking you did something wrong, but aren't quite sure what it was.
Whether personal or professional, this inconsistent behavioral pattern is very confusing, and often thought of as "crazy-making". This is because the purpose of passive-aggressive behavior is to express negative feelings and resentments in an unassertive and passive way.
Coping Mechanisms or Dealing with a Passive-Aggressive Manipulator- Do not enter into a battle with a PA; once you have done so, you have lost the war. The only person you can change in this situation is yourself, so you must approach each potential "battle" by suspending your own beliefs about the way your relationship with this person "should" be. You must accept that it is not going to be the way it "should be." Easy to say, hard to do, but necessary for your own mental health.
- Observe their actions, not their words. Although they genuinely believe they do everything for other's interest and not their own, their actions speak louder than their words. Do not take their sugary platitudes at face value, it is only their actions that you should take note of.
- Avoid criticism. This will only elicit an endless stream of explanations, rather than what you want: an apology. Nor will there be any behavior changes. Accept that apologies or personality changes are almost impossible to come by with a person with this affliction.
- Do not waste your time attempting to explain to the PA why their behavior is in error. It's easy to believe that at some point you will get through to this person and they will experience the "Ah-ha!" phenomenon, and all will be well. This is particularly the case with people who are themselves very rational and logical. This process cannot work with the PA.
- If you can't control your temper, avoid interacting with a PA. Your temper will be interpreted by them as further evidence of your abuse towards them, and further justify their own position as innocent martyr. Under these circumstances, it is better to keep your distance.
Oh boy - I wish I had understood this better a couple of years ago. I got shafted by the king of passive aggressive. This is the stuff they don't teach you at leadership or employee management training. AND - is it just me, or is this a growing population in the working community?
Posted by: Liz | April 06, 2010 at 05:17 PM