How to Manage and Confront Passive-Aggressive Behavior at Work

Passive-aggressive behavior isn’t like other forms of conflict. Its signs are harder to spot. A 2023 study described this behavior as a kind of social defense used by people who don’t feel safe expressing anger directly. In the workplace, these patterns often pass for quirks or stress. Suddenly, when they start to spread, trust breaks down, morale drops, and progress stalls. If you want to spot passive aggression early, you have to watch for what’s not said.

Learn The Causes of Passive-Aggression

A 2019 study on employee deviance found that passive-aggressive behavior often begins when employees feel a silent contract has been broken, such as when someone believes they’ve earned something (recognition, autonomy, fairness) and the organization doesn’t deliver. Instead of confronting, employees may push back indirectly. These are especially common in white collar or tech driven workplaces, where interactions are often digital and accountability is easier to avoid.

Pay Attention to Subtle Defiance

A 2018 study on workplace incivility and a 2020 study about passive-aggressive traits both found that this behavior often stems from a learned discomfort with direct confrontation. People who feel powerless or threatened may resort to indirect expressions of anger that allow them to deflect accountability. At work, that resentment takes familiar forms:

• Eye-rolling in meetings or sighing when others speak
• Muted complaints, muttering, or vague digs
• “Forgetting” tasks, stalling progress, or doing the bare minimum
• Withholding information while pretending to cooperate

These behaviors don’t look aggressive at first glance. That’s what makes them hard to call out. A passive-aggressive coworker nods in agreement but delays action. They smile but block progress. They never say no, yet nothing gets done. Over time, these patterns erode trust and morale.

Remeber the Categories of Passive-Aggressive Behavior

A 2022 study that developed the Passive Aggression Scale (PAS) found that most passive-aggressive behavior at work falls into three patterns: provoking others, avoiding others, and quiet sabotage. Each one hides behind a façade of cooperation, making the damage harder to spot.

• Provoking others: Sarcasm, backhanded compliments, or “jokes” that humiliate while pretending to amuse
• Avoiding others: Silent treatment, deliberate eye contact avoidance, or pretending a colleague isn’t there
• Quiet sabotage: Missed deadlines, minimal effort, or withholding help to let others fail

Individually, these actions seem minor. Over time, they form a pattern that drains trust, performance, and team cohesion.

Watch Out for Passive-Aggressive Emails

Passive-aggressive behavior doesn’t disappear in remote work; it just adapts. A 2020 study on email incivility found that people use silence, delay, and vague responses to express subtle hostility. Examples include: ignoring time-sensitive emails, replying with one-word answers, and dodging a direct question.

What makes these behaviors harder to confront is their ambiguity. You don’t know if you’ve been slighted or simply overlooked, so you dwell on it. That ambiguity has real effects. Researchers found that passive email incivility disrupts sleep more than more obvious, aggressive emails. In hybrid and remote environments, where tone and timing carry more weight than ever, learning to recognize digital passive aggression is now part of reading the room.

The Signs of Passive-Aggressive Leadership

While you may often experience passive aggression from you peers, it can also come from the those with higher authority. A 2021 study on busive supervision identified a quieter form of harm: passive-aggressive leadership. These bosses don’t yell; they blame others when things go wrong, withhold credit, and erode their team’s confidence. The hostility is indirect, but its effects are direct and lasting.

Employees under this kind of supervision often feel emotionally exhausted from constant self-monitoring. To avoid conflict, they overcompensate: volunteering for extra work, staying late. On paper, it looks like dedication. In practice, it’s burnout. If you see someone quietly overextending, avoiding feedback, or constantly trying to prove their worth to a boss who rarely gives it, look again. What seems like cooperation may actually be self-protection.

Leadership Styles That Encourage Passive Aggression

A study on leadership styles and workplace behavior found that passive-aggressive responses often emerge in environments where employees feel silenced or controlled. Under “autocratic” leadership (where communication is top-down, inflexible, or coercive) employees are less likely to speak up and more likely to push back in quiet, indirect ways.

Even major organizational changes like layoffs or restructuring can trigger these patterns when communication lacks transparency. Most employees don’t even realize they’re doing it. But over time, this kind of silent resistance damages trust, productivity, and morale.

How to Handle Passive Aggression Without Escalating It

If you want to deal with passive-aggressive behavior at work, you have to approach it with a clear, calm, strategic mindset. Experts say it’s tempting to mirror the behavior, responding with sarcasm orsilence, but that only deepens the cycle.

Instead, you should address vague jabs or underhanded comments in real time by asking for clarification in a neutral tone. This not only addresses the behavior, it signals that you are paying attention to the person and their issues. A study on conflict communication found that using “I” statements, such as “I felt dismissed when that was said”, reduces hostility while still making your point clear. And when the behavior becomes a pattern, experts recommend keeping a written record of what was said, how it affected your work, and what steps you’ve taken to address it. Conflict management research shows that avoiding difficult conversations may feel safer in the short term but usually makes the problem worse.

How to Protect Yourself from a Passive-Aggressive Boss

A 2022 article outlines practical ways to protect yourself in these situations. Start by documenting everything. When expectations are murky or timelines slip, follow up in writing. A quick email confirming what was discussed can serve as a record and a safeguard if the story later changes. Other strategies include:

• Clarify expectations: Summarize meetings and requests in writing to avoid miscommunication.
• Build internal support: Trusted peers or mentors can validate your experience and help you navigate tricky dynamics.

Why Context Matters More Than Character

A 2023 study found that people tend to act passive-aggressively when they feel powerless, criticized, or emotionally unsafe. That includes work settings where feedback is harsh, authority is rigid, or disagreement is punished.

The behavior is a way to signal resentment without opening the door to conflict. Researchers also found that hostility isn’t tied to age or worldview, and that psychological discomfort alone doesn’t predict it.

Passive-aggressive behavior is easy to overlook but shouldn’t be ignored. Spotting it requires behavioral insight skills, and the ability to separate discomfort from danger. These aren’t just management skills. They’re deception detection tools that can be used in any environment.

If you want to strengthen your ability to catch these cues early, formal training can help. Courses in behavioral analysis and deception detection don’t just teach you what to look for. They teach you how to act on it. Whether you lead a team, work within one, or need to navigate complex office dynamics, these skills will give you a sharper lens and a stronger voice.