We interact with people of different cultural backgrounds, habits, and behavioral norms. The most difficult ones are conflict-prone personalities — rude, sharp, openly aggressive individuals. To choose the right way to behave with such people, it’s important to understand the reasons behind their behavior and how to properly defuse a conflict.
All conflict-prone personalities can be divided into several types, and the approach to building healthy human relationships with them varies accordingly. AdmiGram.com offers practical recommendations for dealing with specific difficult personality types that each of us is guaranteed to encounter in life.
How to Deal with a Conflict-Prone Person
The Rigid Type
This group includes inflexible people, often with inflated self-esteem. They constantly feel underestimated, are easily offended, insist on being right, and rarely back down from their beliefs. The rigid type is one of the most difficult in conflict situations. Psychologists’ advice is clear: if you’re dealing with such a person, try to avoid conflicts altogether. Don’t provoke suspicion or give reasons for offense. If a conflict does arise, it’s better to apologize or walk away rather than try to argue things out.
The Uncontrolled Type
People of this type are usually highly emotional and rarely think situations through or consider consequences. When they feel wronged, they explode and act aggressively. This emotionality and lack of foresight can actually be used to your advantage. First, such people are very transparent — you quickly learn what triggers their anger and can easily neutralize it. Second, the “letting off steam” tactic works well: allow them to vent over something minor, and they’ll often give in on more important issues.
The Demonstrative Type
You’ve definitely met people like this. They create conflicts to be in the spotlight. A scandal can erupt out of nowhere. If you suspect a coworker or relative has a demonstrative personality, try to act proactively: show genuine interest in them and their affairs, let them know they matter to you, give a compliment, praise their work. Most likely, the number of conflicts will decrease significantly. This approach works not only with adults, but also with children and teenagers.
The Overly Meticulous Type
These individuals tend to be highly anxious perfectionists, demanding of both themselves and others. They often nitpick over small details and take offense easily. At the same time, they rarely express their dissatisfaction openly, preferring to withdraw and avoid communication. To avoid conflict with them, you need to be very respectful of their boundaries: avoid ambiguous remarks or questionable gestures. As a rule, the overly meticulous type doesn’t engage in conflict if they feel safe and secure.
The Hyper-Conflict Type
These people know how to behave in conflict situations and turn them to their advantage. They may even deliberately provoke conflicts because they’re used to gaining “bonuses” from them. They usually argue their position well and know exactly what they want. In a dispute, it’s useful to have such a person on your side. But even better is to become someone who knows how to benefit from conflicts and manage them effectively.
