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‘Negative Personality Traits’ to avoid

Life Desk

Published:24 Mar 2021, 11:06 AM

‘Negative Personality Traits’ to avoid


We all have negative attributes that need our attention. Once you become aware of them and how they affect other people, you’re more likely to put in the effort to correct those you see in yourself. Of course, that assumes your character development and personal growth matter to you and that you’re not inclined to blame anyone but yourself for your mistakes.

What is Negative Personality Trait

We are born with a personality type and with positive and negative traits that are natural to our type. The differences in personalities between people are linked to structural differences in our brains that develop before birth. A variety of personality tests can reveal the personality traits and identify the weak areas of anyone’s personality. Here are some lists of the worst qualities of a negative personality:

Needing to be Right

This person needs to be right all the time or at least to be seen that way. They have a visceral need to prove others wrong, and if they can’t do that, they’ll use other means to discredit those with whom they disagree. They’ll attack the other’s character. If they can make the other person look like a villain and get at least one person to say, “You were right about and so-and-so,” they’ve scored a victory.It doesn’t matter if what they said had no basis in fact. They rely on their emotions and on those of people just as easily swayed by them to “win. ”The truth is only as valuable as it is useful in proving the other person wrong.

Vindictive

Cross this person, in even a small way, and they’ll do everything they can to punish you. They become fixated on making sure you regret ever going against them in any way even if “going against them” consists of nothing more than ignoring them, or disagreeing with them, or not doing what they want. Once you make them angry, they’ll denounce you as an enemy and look for ways to hurt you. They may or may not make their intentions against you clear. Much depends on whether they have one of the following bad personality traits.

Aggressive or Passive-Aggressive

If a vindictive person is passive-aggressive, they’ll work more or less behind your back. And that’s where they’ll strike, without ever confronting you to your face. If they have an aggressive streak, they might confront you, but often from a safe distance. The internet and email are useful for this. Aggressive people use proximity and even physical violence to threaten you and make you feel unsafe, helpless, or small. They’ll bully you into apologizing and doing what they want to atone for your sins against them.

Manipulative

The manipulative person uses other people to get what they want. They’re often even proud of their ability to manipulate others. Guilt is a popular manipulation tactic, but not all people who use guilt to make others do what they want are consciously manipulative. For many, this tactic is something they learned growing up. Eventually, though, it loses its effectiveness. And when it does, the real manipulator will then use other forms of manipulation to get their way.

Predatory

A predatory person sees other people as toys or tools to use as they please. When they choose a target, they put their plan in action and view their harmful actions toward that person as an enjoyable game. And they feel completely within their rights to do so. They see nothing wrong with manipulating and exploiting others to get what they want. They don’t really do friendship, because to them, people are only as valuable as they are useful. And once they’re used up, the predator will toss them aside like garbage.

Egocentric

When someone possesses this negative quality, everything they say or do is centered on making them look good, becoming the center of attention, or proving to the world that they deserve preferential treatment. Everything they say or do serves their ego. And nothing or no one else takes priority over maintaining their ego.

Pessimistic

The pessimistic person is always looking for proof that the universe hates them (or that it doesn’t care). They believe that they’re just doomed to be trapped and miserable, that the world is against them, that life is a cruel joke, or that the game is rigged against them. Whenever things don’t go their way, it’s proof that they’re right. It doesn’t occur to them to take responsibility for their own lives and do something to change them for the better. They’ll cling to what they have and complain about what they don’t. And they’ll make themselves (and others) miserable — as if that’s the only way to be.

Greedy

They will get all they can out of you without any regard for what you want or need. And they’re insatiable. No matter how much you give them, they want more. And if you dare ask anything of them that doesn’t serve their interests, be prepared for a disappointing outcome. Your value as a friend only goes as far as your usefulness or your ability to help finance the lifestyle they want. They can never have enough money, food, or gratifying experiences. You are a means to an end for them. You can either feed the beast or get trampled by it.

Dishonest

With the dishonest person, no offer of help (financial or otherwise) comes without strings attached or without some ulterior motive in which you and your interests are just bit players. Beware of sudden offers of help from someone who otherwise shows zero interest in your life. Chances are, there’s something this person wants that they can only get (or that they can get more easily) by involving you. It’s one thing to keep secrets to protect those for whom that information would be a burden or a danger. It’s another to constantly lie to others in order to get something you want from them.

Judgmental

Live long enough around other people, and you’re likely to meet someone who’s quick to judge others based on what they see, even when they don’t know the whole story. They’ll dismiss someone as a “bad person” before you even get a chance to know better. If you know this self-appointed judge and value their opinion, you might be swayed by them at first. But when you look more closely at the judged person or at the circumstances, you come away with a different perspective. At some point, you find yourself unwilling to simply accept any opinion this Judgy Judgerson voices about others. They’ll judge anyone because it makes them feel superior in some way. And you could just as easily become a target by them.

Narcissistic

To the narcissist, others are to blame for the problems in their life. They don’t apologize, at least not sincerely, because whatever you think they’ve done to hurt you, it’s your fault. You provoked them. Whatever happens, they are in the right and only doing what’s best, at least for them. They’re not responsible for whatever consequences you suffer because of them. If they do apologize, it’s to serve their own ends. And those ends have nothing to do with real friendship.

Unforgiving

The person with this negative trait refuses to forgive those who hurt or offend them, no matter what they might do to atone for those offenses. They see forgiveness as a sign of weakness. So, they continue hating and looking for ways to feed that hatred. They don’t stop to consider that in doing so, they’re torturing themselves making themselves miserable and blaming someone else for it.