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>Sober House with Dr. Drew

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>Whoever said Reality TV was a waste of time never tried to demonstrate a concept about passive aggression! The 3/25/10 episode of VH-1’s Sober House with Dr. Drew shows so many great concepts from The Angry Smile. Watch House Manager Jennifer Jimenez get caught up in Conflict Cyle after Conflict Cycle!

Here is the link to VH-1’s website. The clip I have in mind starts about 39 min into the show:

http://www.vh1.com/video/sober-house-with-dr-drew/full-episodes/episode-3/1634526/playlist.jhtml

Watch former NBA star Dennis Rodman engage Jennifer in a passive aggressive showdown. She insists that he write a 150-word essay on why he (and other housemates) are sabotaging their recovery. His response: writing the word “why” on a piece of paper precisely 150 times. Intentional inefficiency in action!

When it is time for Jennifer to collect the essay, she comes at Dennis guns-blazing: yelling, threatening, dropping F-bombs, etc. Dennis remains calm throughout, clearly amused at her escalating anger…classic passive aggressive conflict brewing! As if to confirm, in the midst of her one-woman rant, Dennis says (with an angry smile), “I want to see how mad you really get!”

And that’s all just the icing on the cake. The preface to all of this is a passive aggressive war of words about Dennis giving his cell phone to Jennifer as a consequence for breaking curfew.

Check it out. It is Passive Aggressive Conflict Cycle 101. And by the way, when is Dr. Drew going to teach her how to get herself OUT of this kind of no-win battle??

>Revenge! Counter-Passive Aggression in Families, Schools and the Workplace

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>Welcome to Passive Aggressive Diaires, especially to those readers who have linked here from Psychology Today! Please browse through the examples of passive aggressive behavior that have been shared throughout this blog and add your own interesting, humorous, conniving, and infuriating examples of passive aggressive…and counter-passive aggressive behavior here.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

If you haven’t been there already, please check out http://bit.ly/9t7s8a for my latest post on the Psychology Today website.

>The Real World–Washington DC: Ashley's Angry Smile

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>Check out this clip from the January 20th, Episode 4 of MTV’s The Real World–DC. Starting at around 8:44 into the episode, Ashley and Mike get into an argument that culminates, at around 9:50, into the most classic “Angry Smile” I’ve seen in quite a while.

Note the smile on Ashley’s face and the calm that comes over her when she finds Mike’s vulnerable spot and gets him to act out the anger that had been building inside of her. Immediately after, listen to her words in the MTV “confessional” revealing her true feelings, underneath her angry smile.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/real-world-washington-dc-ep-4-the-princess-and-the-panda/1629645/playlist.jhtml

>Passive Aggressive Ninja

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>Here’s a great cartoon on one of the oldest, and most dreaded passive aggressive methods out there: the silent treatment!

http://www.savagechickens.com/2009/09/the-passive-aggressive-ninja.html

Wait! I think my mom’s under that ninja suit!

>Hidden but Conscious Revenge

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>Did you see the news headline this morning about Sarah Palin’s vacation-wear? Apparently, she was filmed by the paparazzi wearing a sun visor with her former Presidential running mate’s name blacked out! As if her book, Going Rogue, had not spurned enough of her political foes in a backhanded way, now she’s blacking out McCain’s name with a Sharpie, for all of the world’s cameras to see! This is classic passive aggressive revenge, accompanied by all of the hallmark excuses that justify, rationalize, and excuse her behavior. Here’s her statement:

“I am so sorry if people took this silly incident the wrong way. I adore John McCain, support him 100 percent and will do everything I can to support his reelection. As everyone knows, I was honored and proud to run with him. And Todd and I were with him in D.C. just a week ago. So much for trying to be incognito.”

“Incognito?” Seriously? That’s the best excuse she can come up with? It’s almost like she’s not even trying to cover up her resentment… Her and Tiger Woods have got to know that they will be filmed everywhere they go! There is no “incognito” as she keeps making public moves like this one!

This Blog is made to laugh about the hilariously conniving lengths that people are willing to go to to express their hidden anger; when I saw the news this morning, I knew it couldn’t get more funny–or more passive aggressive–than Palin’s searing political statement!

>Five Levels of Passive Aggressive Behavior

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>In The Angry Smile, we define five distinct and increasingly pathological levels of passive aggression:

Level 1: Temporary Compliance, in which the passive aggressive person verbally complies with a request, but behaviorally delays acting on it. Temporary compliance is the most common form of passive aggressive behavior and sounds something like, “I’m cooooooming!”

Level 2: Intentional Inefficiency, in which the passive aggressive person complies with a request, but carries it out in an unacceptable manner. Intentional Inefficiency looks something like my husband unloading the dishwaser by putting everything out on the counter and claiming, “I wasn’t sure where these went!”

Level 3: Letting a Problem Escalate, in which the passive aggressive person uses inaction to allow a forseeable problem to escalate and takes pleasure in the resulting anguish. Passive aggressive kids are at this level when they return a car with an empty gas tank, even when they know their parent will be late for work if they have to stop for gas.

Level 4: Hidden but Conscious Revenge, in which the passive aggressive person makes a deliberate decision–and takes hidden action–to get back at someone. This more serious level could involve stealing field trip money from the purse of a teacher who they feel has mistreated them, sabotaging the presentation of a colleague who they feel was unfairly promoted over them, or slashing the tires of a resented step-father’s car.

Level 5: Self-depreciation, in which a passive aggressive person goes to self-destructive lengths to seek vengeance. From the teenager who dyes his hair blue before a college interview to the girl who starves herself to get back at her demanding father, this level is the most pathological…and usually not great fodder for “funny” stories.

In The Angry Smile, we document passive aggressive behaviors at each level, across home, school, relationship & workplace settings.

What examples do you have of passive aggression at these levels?

>Roomate stories

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>Whenever two people share close quarters, arguments are bound to occur. Sometimes hostile words are spoken…sometimes things are left unsaid…but the anger always comes out somehow. Here are some passive aggressive stories posted by roommates:

Jenny on 9/30/09

My roommate and I alternate whose turn it is to clean the room each week; this past week it was my turn. She keeps a corkboard above her bed on which she keeps various assignments for school, pictures of friends, and the like. As I was cleaning up trash around the room, I noticed a paper on her board for an assignment that was due a week ago, so being mindful of my job to clean up, I threw it out. When she returned to the room, she got upset with me for “messing with her stuff. I became upset with her as well, because I had just gotten back from a long evening class and was too tired to deal with her. Therefore, in an attempt to “get even”, I re-tacked her paper as well as several others from the trash. When confronted about it, I told her that I simply did not want her to miss anything important that already happened.

Anonymous posted on 9/23/09:

My freshman year of college, I was assigned to a random roommate. Sam and I did not get along in the very least. Sam took control of all of my belongings, always had friends over at all hours of the night, and seemed to have this urge to annoy me. The worse part of the situation wasn’t Sam, it was her boyfriend Ben. Ben spent the night every night and it was hard to get any alone time. I became very passive aggressive, just leaving notes for Sam, avoiding her as much as possible, and the anger kept on building up inside of me. One day, I got really fed up and called Sam’s parents. I let her mother know that her boyfriend would spend the night in Sam’s bed, which was absolutely forbidden my Sam’s parents. They took her home very quickly and I had a room to myself for the rest of the semester.

Anonymous posted on 9/22/09:

So I live with three other girls in an apartment. We agreed on having the temperature set at 73 degrees, nice and comfortable. I have come back to the apartment everyday to find it close to 80 degrees in the apartment because someone shuts of the air. So I just turn it back on and go on my way. Well after the second week of this happening every day I decide to be real mature and plummet it down to 65 degrees to prove a point. So instead of asking someone if they have turned it off and why they allowed it to get real hot I just turn it down to 65 degrees and let the place freeze over and I love it.

>Check out Keri Ann's Passive Aggressive Note on VH-1's Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew!

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>Dr. Drew is always good for shedding light on mental health issues…Keri Ann’s passive aggressive note to Kendra, on the third episode of VH-1’s “Sex Rehab,” ought to provide some good material to process in the group’s sessions. Check out the clip to watch passive aggresion in action!

Kari Ann Writes Kendra a Letter: “Kari Ann actually does something and writes Kendra a ‘apology letter’ about how she feels!”

Notice how Keri Ann, unwilling to own her own anger, declares, “This is her anger…” referring to her castmate, Kendra. Passive aggressive people operate by getting others to act out the anger that they are harboring. If you have time, check out the rest of the episode and watch how Kendra is hooked into the passive aggressive dance.

What do you think about how Keri Ann signs the note? “I’d love to be your friend…Love, Keri Ann xoxo” A little incongruous with the tone of the rest of the message, right? Another classic PA tactic. This gives Keri Ann the ability to deny her anger when confronted and to say, “See…I was trying to be her friend…”

When Amber tells Keri Ann that the note is a bit combative, Keri Ann’s admits that it is important for her to get her “jabs in,” an acknowledgement of the note’s underlying angry message. Keri Ann also follows up by saying that if she didn’t get those passive aggressive jabs in…she’s just come right out with her anger by calling Kendra a “tranny face.”

Have you seen the episode? What other passive aggressive behavior do you see? What do you think about Keri Ann’s passive aggression and its impact on the other patients?

>"You Should Just Make Being Home Really Miserable for Him…"

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>I got some classic passive aggressive advice from a friend today. We were chatting at our kids’ morning bus stop and comparing notes about the ways in which our husbands get on our nerves (sorry, honey!) My complaint was about how my husband has had too much time on his hands recently, so he has this annoying little habit of looking over my shoulder whenever I am on the computer. Reading my e-mails, browsing my Facebook photos, even scanning my work…it’s not that he’s checking up on me and not that I have anyting to hide; he’s just passing time and I cringe when he does it!

So, my friends exact words were, “You should just make being home really miserable for him.” She started to tell me that she had been thinking about some ideas for how to do so…but the bus came. For the sake of my marriage, I think I am glad not to be armed with ideas! But what do you think she would have said?

How many of you have expressed your frustration in your relationship through passive aggressive means? I’m sure a lot of your tales would be funny…I’ll bet if the bus hadn’t interrupted us, my neighbor would have had some hilariously conniving tips to rid me of my over-the-shoulder computer loiterer. Do tell what you have done!

>Passive Aggression as a Cultural Norm

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>In The Angry Smile: The Psychology of Passive Aggressive Behavior in Families, Schools and Workplaces, 2nd ed., we identify four reasons why people behave passive aggressively. One of those reasons has to do with a child’s socialization within the norms of his cultural and/or ethnic group.

In short, some cultures and ethnic groups set absolute standards for the need to be polite and charming, regardless of internal feelings. Children are taught to swallow their anger and never to debate, argue, confront, or even assertively express their emotions. The suppression of anger toward elders may create a level of civility and politeness that is admirable, but it can also create a reservoir of unexpressed hostile feelings and the development of passive aggressive behaviors as a means of self-expression.

Do you have any stories of passive aggressive behavior as a response to strict cultural and ethnic norms? Please share them here.

Below, please find an example posted by Donna Bee on 10/4/09:

There was no expressing of anything in our family. We are of Finnish background, for God’s sake. Anger, openly expressed, forget about it. One year, I forget how old I was, but I was mad about a million infractions on my human pshyche so I took a razor blade and cut the back end seams of my Dad’s cotton/polyester boxer short underwear…do not know if he or my Mom ever noticed, but I sure felt better….temporarily.

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