Passive aggression is a way of expressing negative feelings in indirect rather than direct ways. Instead of having open, honest conversations about how they feel wronged, the individual may use hints, silence, denial, and other subtle tactics to communicate their discontent. Here are 18 of the most common signs of passive aggression:
1. Denies anger while enacting it indirectly
2. Hints instead of stating need or complaint directly
3. Sulks, sighs, and pouts
4. Has a sullen attitude
5. Fails to follow through or uses intentional inefficiency
6. Complains about feeling wronged and underappreciated
7. Scorekeeps silently
8. Gives backhanded compliments
9. Acts out aggression physically
10. Uses the silent treatment
A passive-aggressive person may decide to punish another person by shutting down all communication instead of addressing the issue directly.
11. Insists the conflict is resolved without letting it go
A passive-aggressive person will struggle to move through conflict maturely because it is never actually addressed. Nevertheless, they may claim that everything is fine while harboring resentment and frustration.
12. Feels they are doing everybody a favor
Some passive-aggressive people see their behavior as a mature approach to conflict resolution. In their eyes, conflict is to be avoided at all costs and they are taking one for the team by avoiding it, even if their discontent emerges in other ways.
13. Resents those who want to have a direct conversation
14. Sabotages others
15. Insists that others are simply misunderstanding them
16. Distances from the person without saying why
A passive-aggressive person may decide to move away emotionally from a person without ever addressing the underlying reasons that led to their unhappiness. Their silence may baffle or hurt their friend.
Attempts to directly repair the relationship may be met with deflection or denial that they are distancing at all.
17. Talks to uninvolved parties about what’s wrong
18. Create an eggshell situation
Psychology Today || 18 Signs That You're Dealing with a Passive-Aggressive Person