What does Passive Aggressive mean?

Naw, he's not passive aggressive. He's just a GUY! lol But seriously, he may have some passive aggressive tendencies. My understanding of passive aggressive is someone who avoids confrontation. Won't argue. Won't say no. But then they will go ahead and their actions will undermine you. They will do sneaky things to irritate you. The problem, I think, is that it's hard to tell the difference between passive aggressive and just plain indifferent. I'm sorry to hear about your spouse. I hope you guys can make things better. Take care.

i dont know..maybe like angry..

Well, if he is, then he sounds like most men anyway! I'm not a psychology student, but as I understand it, passive-aggressive behavior can include things like taking so long to get ready to go to a party or other event the person doesn't want to go to, that it's almost over by the time they get there. People like these are often stubborn, resentful, and resistant to any help or advice that's offered.

Yes, it sounds like your husband is being passive aggressive sometimes. Basically, think of it being aggressive in a passive way. In other words, he's forcing his own will by doing nothing or something that is not actively aggressive or confrontational like yelling or getting physical. Other examples include someone who says that they're going to meet your somewhere at a certain time and they either don't show up or show up really late. Or, they say that they're going to do something and they either don't do it, do it way later, or do it very poorly. It's kinda like they are afraid to fight directly or openly, but still want to be aggressive.

Good question. Passive-aggressive is a term often used when people don't understand why someone does what they do, and it's overused. However, it is a useful term when used correctly. Passive-aggressive indicates that someone wants to do something aggressive toward someone else, but feels incapable/afraid to take direct action, and expresses him/herself in an indirect way. The action taken is usually something that will provide an out to the person taking the acting, enabling him/her to say something like, "What do you mean? I wasn't doing anything to you!" Example: A young person is told to cut the grass. He doesn't want to do it, feels he shouldn't have to, etc. On the other hand, he does not believe he can negotiate with his parent - can't ask to do it at a more convenient time, can't get paid for it, or whatever would make the task more acceptable. He feels his parent would not understand, not want to understand, and that he is powerless in this situation. So, he goes out to cut the grass, but in the process, mows over a bush that his father recently planted. It's sort of conscious, but he feels a little like he couldn't help it - couldn't quite control the mower, so it's really not his fault. It just happened. You can see that the boy got back at his father in an indirect way. If confronted with the behavior, he'll say, "I couldn't help it. I didn't know the bush was there," or "I didn't mean to do it!" He could not tell his father what he wanted to say, but found an indirect way to express his anger. I'm sure you can think of many things that happen at school that have a feeling like this. Boys bumping into someone in the hall by "accident." A girl dropping her algebra book and interrupting the teacher she doesn't like, etc.

He sounds like a normal man who doesn't want to be interrupted while he is relaxing. I don't always respond instantly when someone calls my name, especially if I am in the middle of doing something and feel that if they want to talk to me so bad they can come talk to me. Also the problem solving thing just sounds like a normal man, they frequently don't like talking about problems. Sometimes they really do not think the same things are problems that we women do. Passive aggressive is when people are not confrontational when they are angry but they still try to get revenge. An example of passive aggressiveness would be: I hate it when my brother leaves his socks on the living room floor, so I hide them every time he does it. That way I get revenge, but I avoid a direct confrontation until eventually, I hope, he will just stop doing it.