Six: Passive Aggression. Narcissists use emotional manipulation through passive-aggressive behaviors, such as the silent treatment, rolling their eyes, talking about you as if you weren’t there, or glaring at you. In addition to ignoring or otherwise marginalizing you consciously, in order to downplay and excuse the narcissist’s hurtful insults, they will claim they are merely trying to be helpful and provide a solution to the problem. The narcissist believes that their attacks and insults are nothing more than a sincere effort on their part to assist, insisting that you are just too sensitive to the situation. Any other person they’ve persuaded to view you as inferior will likely follow suit with more put-downs and disappointment on their part. This narcissistic approach is designed to degrade, dominate, and belittle you while masking the narcissist’s apparent faults.
When a narcissist refuses to communicate, for example, this is known as the silent treatment. They punish you with emotional and/or physical detachment to make you behave. But for what purpose? Even if they utilize this strategy as one of their preferred methods, they employ it to convey disrespect and signal that you are not worthy of their attention. It’s important to remind you of your perceived inferiority so you don’t lose sight of how the narcissist sees you, as well as to intentionally cause you to feel rejected and abandoned. Emotional manipulators and their spineless accomplices simply lack empathy.
Sharing is caring!
