8 Keys to Eliminating Passive-Aggressiveness

Guidance for dealing with this common and frustrating form of behavior.

Many people often say "yes" to something when they'd rather say "no." They offer cooperation through words but follow up with how they really feel-in actions that contradict their words. That's passive-aggression. At its heart, passive-aggression is about being untrue to oneself, which makes it impossible to have a clean relationship with others. Passive-aggression as a communication method doesn't make someone "bad." It is simply a strategy learned in childhood as a coping mechanism, a hard-to-break habit. Changing passive-aggressive behavior requires knowledge, tools, and practice, as outlined here.