Passive Aggressive
Passive Aggressive Behavior in the Workplace
Projects are due; holidays are here, so much to be done and so little time to do it. It is just a part of life to be dealing with so many different types of personalities, different work ethics and just basically understanding the people that you work with in a forty-hour work week. Dealing with co-workers that are passive-aggressive in their behavior can be quite frustrating until you learn the best ways in which to deal with this type of behavior. Individuals who exhibit passive aggressive behavior tend to express hostile and antagonistic feelings in a non-aggressive way. Although they may appear to be passive on the surface, in reality they are direct and purposeful and intend to control, injure or assign a negative perception, all the while avoiding responsibility (Hopwood, 2009). Once you understand passive aggressive behavior it is easy to spot. Many people are afraid to confront feelings period, whether they are positive or negative. So many people really do not know how to express themselves and exactly what they are feeling so they stuff their emotions down ignoring them. These negative emotions come out in some form or fashion and most of the time at the expense of others. In order to feel their self-importance they will put others down but in a joking matter and subtle way.
A passive aggressive individual is identified by their actions, behaviors, non-verbal and verbal actions. Nancy was never satisfied; nothing in the department went her way. She was overworked, underpaid and never let a moment go by that she didn’t let everyone around her know it. If you had a question, even if it was not directed at her, she had the answer. But yet, she never kept her workload up to the levels of the rest of the team. Always with an excuse, she never completed her work on time and blamed others for the lack of cooperation. In meetings, Nancy had her arms folded, or her head down writing whatever
Projects are due; holidays are here, so much to be done and so little time to do it. It is just a part of life to be dealing with so many different types of personalities, different work ethics and just basically understanding the people that you work with in a forty-hour work week. Dealing with co-workers that are passive-aggressive in their behavior can be quite frustrating until you learn the best ways in which to deal with this type of behavior. Individuals who exhibit passive aggressive behavior tend to express hostile and antagonistic feelings in a non-aggressive way. Although they may appear to be passive on the surface, in reality they are direct and purposeful and intend to control, injure or assign a negative perception, all the while avoiding responsibility (Hopwood, 2009). Once you understand passive aggressive behavior it is easy to spot. Many people are afraid to confront feelings period, whether they are positive or negative. So many people really do not know how to express themselves and exactly what they are feeling so they stuff their emotions down ignoring them. These negative emotions come out in some form or fashion and most of the time at the expense of others. In order to feel their self-importance they will put others down but in a joking matter and subtle way.
A passive aggressive individual is identified by their actions, behaviors, non-verbal and verbal actions. Nancy was never satisfied; nothing in the department went her way. She was overworked, underpaid and never let a moment go by that she didn’t let everyone around her know it. If you had a question, even if it was not directed at her, she had the answer. But yet, she never kept her workload up to the levels of the rest of the team. Always with an excuse, she never completed her work on time and blamed others for the lack of cooperation. In meetings, Nancy had her arms folded, or her head down writing whatever
References: Ferris, G. R., Fedor, D. B., Chachere, J. G., &Pondy, L. R. (1989a). Myths and politics in organizational context. Group and Organization Studies, 14, 83-103 Hopwood, Christopher J;Morey, Leslie C;Markowitz, John C;Pinto, Anthony;Skodol, Andrew E;Gunderso. The Construct Validity of Passive-Aggressive Personality Disorder. Psychiatry; Fall 2009; 72, 3; ProQuest Central pg. 256 Vigoda, Eran. Journal of Organizational Behavior Stress-related aftermaths to workplace politics: The relationships among politics, job distress, and aggressive behavior in organizations 23. 5 (Aug 2002): 571-591.