Passive-aggressive behaviors tend to manifest in several different ways, including:

• Procrastination
• Intentional inefficiency
• Avoiding responsibility by claiming forgetfulness
• Complaining
• Inability to accept blame and blaming others
• Resentment
• Sullenness and irritability
• Impatience
• Fear of authority
• Resistance to suggestions from others
• Cynicism and skepticism
• Unexpressed anger or hostility
• Avoiding direct language

However, many of these behaviors are also part of the normal human experience. To help better define passive-aggressive personality disorder, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV says it is defined by four or more of the following personality traits:

• Passively resists social and occupational tasks
• Complains of being unappreciated and/or misunderstood
• Is prone to argument
• Criticizes and scorns authority unreasonably
• Is frequently envious of people who seem to be more fortunate
• Exaggerates his or her own personal misfortune
• Alternates between hostility and contrition

Passive-aggressive people may experience an intense conflict between a desire for self-assertion and a tendency to depend on others. Despite superficial bravado, they often have poor self-esteem and a defeatist outlook.