Is Passive Aggressive Behavior Good?

My boss used to tell me and that passive aggressive behavior will enable me to be in the top management position. She claimed employees who are stubborn, hostile, argumentative, sullen and who procrastinate are the ones who usually get promoted. She reasoned that department managers will not want to deal with such employees and the only way to avoid them is to recommend them for promotions to other departments. Department managers will only want to retain obedient and hardworking employees.

Somehow I agreed with her and somehow I disagreed with her. It sounds so ironical and you might start thinking that it is fools who work hard while those who don't work hard will always get what they want. Here are some of the reasons why I didn't agree with her:

1.) Passive aggressive behavior will make employees to sabotage the operations of the organization they're working for. The projects and goals of the organization will not be achieved.

2.) Passive aggressive employees will not work as a team with other employees. Other employees will hate them.

3.) A passive aggressive manager will end up stifling creativity of employees.

4.) Promotion is on the basis of merit and not passive aggressive behavior.

Individuals with this behavior exhibit hostility which indicates aggression using passive means. Their goal is to rebel. For example, an employee who is passive aggressive rebels and will not complete and submit the project on time giving several excuses while all along that employee is having a negative attitude towards the management.

Being critical of anyone in authority and refusing to do the duties delegated to the best of one's abilities or just not doing the work in the first place are the behaviors people with passive aggressive behavior have.

An employee with passive aggressive behavior is not aware that his personality is self-defeating because he has always had this personality. He normally thinks that the demands from other employees on him are unreasonable. He also thinks that he does his job better than the credit he gets for it from the management.

Passive aggressive behavior can be exhibited in different ways and there are some common signs that exist for this personality disorder. The most notable signs happen repetitively and they are: blaming others, ambiguity, forgetfulness, making excuses, complaining, procrastination, lying, sarcasm, resentment, being incapable of expressing hostility or anger openly and stubbornness.

These signs are the most common behaviors and not all of these have to be exhibited. Other traits that could also be present include fear of being intimate and trying to avoid responsibilities. The passive aggressive behavior morph over a period of time.

According to a certain child psychologist doctor, babies are born having self-preservation instincts which may appear as aggressive behaviors. They may angrily cry when they get uncomfortable or hungry. There is hope that they'll know how to handle these feelings as they get older and more mature. If they don't learn how to handle these feelings constructively, then they'll possess passive aggressive behaviors.

Treatment for this type of disorder will be tricky due to the patient being apprehensive about following the recommendations; they could also be passive resistant too. People suffering from passive aggressive disorder do not always understand how their behavior affects other people. When someone mentions it to them, they get bewildered and can't understand why such negative responses are happening.