Sometimes it's not about what you say. It's how you say it. There are people whose passive-aggressive remarks are so creative, so petty, so next level, you can't help but respect their words. Even if you're on the receiving end.
Yes, passive-aggressive behavior can be a symptom of several mental disorders, but it's not considered to be a distinct mental health condition. Even though this type of behavior can affect a person's ability to create and maintain healthy relationships and can cause problems at work, there are ways to manage it so that it doesn't have a negative impact on someone's quality of life.
So let's hope the folks who ended up on this list are managing it just fine!
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Yvonne Thomas, Ph.D., a Los Angeles-based psychologist, whose specialties include relationships, told Bored Panda that passive-aggressive behavior is behavior that communicates how a person is feeling, but not in a clear or direct way. "As a result, the recipient of this behavior often may be confused or miss the real reason the person being passive-aggressive is acting or talking a certain way," Thomas explained.
As you can see in the pictures, people exhibit passive-aggressive behavior in a number of different ways. According to Thomas, they can do so through words and/or actions, and examples include slamming things, getting overly defensive, yelling, getting overly emotional, having a negative tone or words, etc. all for seemingly no reason.
If uncontrolled, passive-aggressive behavior can have grave consequences to relationships between people in families, romances, and even in the workplace. So why is this destructive behavior so common?
"A person can be passive-aggressive for a variety of reasons," Thomas said. "Some of these include having a fear of confrontation or conflict, not knowing how to express oneself with direct communication, having difficulty or being unable to identify what one is feeling, having self-doubt or ambivalence about what one is thinking or feeling, not wanting to emotionally hurt the other person with the direct message, etc."
Some experts suggest that the roots of passive-aggressive behavior may lie in a person's upbringing. For example, if someone was raised in an environment where the direct expression of emotions was discouraged or not allowed, they may feel that they cannot express their real feelings more openly, so they may instead find ways to passively channel their anger or frustration.
But situational characteristics can also have an impact on passive-aggressive behavior. When you are in a situation where displays of aggression are not socially acceptable, such as dealing with business partners or certain family members, you might be more inclined to respond in a covert way when someone makes you angry.
Also, as Thomas pointed out, being assertive and emotionally open at the same time can be hard. When standing up for yourself is difficult or even scary, passive-aggression might seem like an easier way to deal with your emotions without having to confront the source of your anger.
My gym is pretty passive-aggressive
Oof! A lot of males insecure in their masculinity are suddenly returning their weights.
It sounds self-explanatory, but in order to defuse passive-aggression, you have recognize it. Sulking, backhanded compliments, procrastination, withdrawal, and refusal to communicate are all tell-tale signs of passive-aggression.
"Although each situation varies, a good response to someone who is being passive-aggressive to you is to be clear and direct in a non-confrontational, calm way with that person," Thomas said. "First, point out your confusion if that person is upset about something that involves you. Let them know that his or her words or actions seem out-of-proportion and out-of-place to the given situation and that you would like him or her to tell you directly if there is something upsetting him or her related to you. Hopefully, this will either make that person aware of their passive-aggressive behavior and take steps to decrease or stop behaving in those ways and/or make it easier to share what they really are upset about."
However, if they mean no harm and you're OK with their attitude—maybe their light-hearted, poetic passive-aggression even cracks you up—share it with the Internet. We appreciate a good one-liner when we see one.
My roommate put this on our fridge
We just moved into a townhouse with a 2 car garage and my roommate doesn't quite leave me enough room to park (My car is the silver one). I came home around 2:30 and was not having it so I pulled up as close as I could to her so I could fit. I had the same amount of room on the driver side. I don't know if I could do that again so I thought I would share before this gets downvoted to usersub hell.
It annoys me when you see people working in a store on the cash register/till and a customer is on the phone and treating the staff like dog dirt on their shoe.
It 's the other side that goads me. When you're in a queue to waiting to be served and the cashier is having a full blown conversation with another customer about anything and everything but what the customer is buying. Especially if I'm in a rush.
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I’ve had this done to me lots of times at the check out process at a Dr’s office, I would go around the desk and tend to the person waiting behind them to see if they need anything before leaving , actually the person on the cell doesn’t even get upset if anything embarrassed
I used to answer the office phone while the patient was talking to me and book an appointment or two before returning my attention to them. I had a few patients complain about me being rude. The office manager always had my back and would tell them I only do that to patients who talk on their cellphones while checking in. She’d say it was a healthy dose of their own medicine.
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I recently went into a very small market type supermarket and my phone began to ring as I was checking out. I don't answer my phone when I am in this type of situation so I just let it ring. The woman serving me actually said "I'm so sorry I looked at you strangely, you are the first person I have served in two years who didn't answer their phone, I thought you may not have heard it" Are people really that bloody rude to speak on the phone when being served? I live in Australia and, from my experience, it is considered quite rude to speak on your phone while being served... but obviously not?
This should ne so obvious. If some calls I decline the call. If someone's already on the phone with me they are warned that I am in a queue and as soon as it's almost my turn to pay I tell them to wait and cashier has always 100% of my attention. Even as cashier myself I hated people treating me like air and throwing (!) their money on the table. The least you could do when phoning while paying is nod your effing head to me to say "Hi."....
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I saw a similar sign that said something like "We respect your privacy so we will not serve you until you have finished your conversation" I know that personally I would prefer to have the customer's undivided attention while I am serving them.
ugh, THIS! when I was waiting tables, I had a woman sit down whilst on her phone. I refused to go over to the table until she was finished. Next thing I know she's waving me down to complain about not being waited on yet. While she was STILL on the phone call. So i guess I was the rude one? lmao
UGH. My sister has called me while at the grocery store more than once. I just tell her I'll call her in a bit. She ALWAYS gives me some snarky version of , "Oh - you can't talk & shop at the same time?" Why yes I can, you little bitch, I simply CHOOSE NOT TO because I think it's rude to my fellow shoppers. (I literally almost recommended a certain cream to a woman discussing her YEAST INFECTION for all to hear.)
oh this used to bother me. I worked in a box office and every now and again someone would come in and use their cell phone. Sometimes that was a quick call to confirm a date, and that was less annoying then rescheduling a date later...but I recall a woman who came in while on a conversation, and left on the same conversation. I had to manage her transaction in between chatting. Like...you came in in person to deal with a person...and spent the whole time on the phone with someone?!
When your customer is on the phone, You put their stuff into a trolley and serve the next person. Totally ignore them as they are ignoring you.
The cashiers at one store I patronize have the right idea. If someone is on their cell AND holding the line up, the cashier simply says, "NEXT, PLEASE", and people go around Mr./Ms. Self-Important. It's amazing how often these self-absorbed people get upset at someone not wanting to be held up indefinitely.
What really gets me is when I’m at the store and the cashier answers the phone and takes the order of the person on the phone instead of waiting on me. I’ve literally watched somebody answer the phone and take somebody’s order at the auto parts store three times in a row while I was waiting there in the store. If you drive to the store any store you should be waited prior to the caller. They should be put on hold until the in-store sale is concluded and then they can answer. If the person on the phone wants to drive their ass down to the store then they can be first in line.
Being a medical receptionist for the past 20 years I refuse to serve someone whose talking on a cell when they come to my desk. I get annoyed when I see people talking n a phone at the bank or a grocery store line. So rude
Get over it .. as long as your not holding up the line or being rude go ahead and talk on your phone all you want
Talking to them, if I knew one of my son's was going into a store, I'd hang up on them (even if I needed bread or milk) until they'd finished civilly engaging with a service provider.
My dad found my passive aggressive note that I wrote to the tooth fairy. It was better than I remember.
Passive aggressive roommate preparing for valentines day.
This is what happens when people submit passive-aggressive office memos where I work.
My wife made me a passive aggressive flow chart to use every time I get hungry
I saw one that said 'If you pee everywhere when it's right in front of you and less than a few inches away then it's too small. Take a seat and protect your shoes'
passive agressive gas station
*** Sure, Timny. Like starting with 3 asterisks.... & ending wirh 3 exclamation marks !!!
A really passive aggressive license plate I saw today.
Note: this post originally had 71 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
What is it with all of the negativity on BP these days? It seems like every day there's an article like "Here's a list of people who visited a different country and the things they hated about it," "Here's a list of people acting like jerks," or "Here's an opportunity to upvote someone talking about hating and sneering at things that give other people joy." It's tedious and ugly.
I know I’m gonna get downvoted for this, but you and all the people agreeing with you are hating on how much hate is on BP 🤣🤣🤣
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Aggression, in a passive way, ie no physical harm is done. Not sure why people are down voting you for an honest question.
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What is it with all of the negativity on BP these days? It seems like every day there's an article like "Here's a list of people who visited a different country and the things they hated about it," "Here's a list of people acting like jerks," or "Here's an opportunity to upvote someone talking about hating and sneering at things that give other people joy." It's tedious and ugly.
I know I’m gonna get downvoted for this, but you and all the people agreeing with you are hating on how much hate is on BP 🤣🤣🤣
Load More Replies... Aggression, in a passive way, ie no physical harm is done. Not sure why people are down voting you for an honest question.
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