Passive-aggressive behavior

Passive-aggressive behavior is the indirect expression of hostility, such as through procrastination, sarcasm, hostile jokes, stubbornness, resentment, sullenness, or deliberate or repeated failure to accomplish requested tasks for which one is (often explicitly) responsible. For research purposes, the DSM-IV describes passive-aggressive personality disorder as a "pervasive pattern of negativistic attitudes and passive resistance to demands for adequate performance in social and occupational situations". Concept in different areas[edit] In psychology[edit] In psychology, passive-aggressive behavior is characterized by a habitual pattern of passive resistance to expected work requirements, opposition, stubbornness, and negativistic attitudes in response to requirements for normal performance levels expected of others. Passive-aggressive may also refer to a person who refuses to acknowledge their own aggression (in the sense of "agency"), and who manages that denial by projecting it.

Personality disorder Personality disorders are a class of mental disorders characterised by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating markedly from those accepted by the individual's culture. These patterns develop early, are inflexible and are associated with significant distress or disability.[1] The definitions may vary some according to other sources.[2][3] Official criteria for diagnosing personality disorders are listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association, and in the mental and behavioral disorders section of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, published by the World Health Organization. The DSM-5 published in 2013 now lists personality disorders in exactly the same way as other mental disorders, rather than on a separate 'axis' as previously.[4] Classification[edit] World Health Organization[edit]

Burke Lecture: John Shelby Spong