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Passive Aggression Scale

Have you ever wondered whether you have passive-aggressive tendencies? The Passive Aggression Scale, developed by psychologists Young-Ok Lim and Kyung-Hyun Suh, can help you find out.

Mark Travers, Ph.D.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D.

August 22, 2023

Mark Travers, Ph.D., is the lead psychologist at Awake Therapy, responsible for new client intake and placement. Mark received his B.A. in psychology, magna cum laude, from Cornell University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder. His academic research has been published in leading psychology journals and has been featured in The New York Times and The New Yorker, among other popular publications. He is a regular contributor for Forbes and Psychology Today, where he writes about psycho-educational topics such as happiness, relationships, personality, and life meaning. Click here to schedule an initial consultation with Mark or another member of the Awake Therapy team. Or, you can drop him a note here.

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Passive aggression is a nuanced trait that can be summarized as exhibiting indirect expression of hostility or negative feelings towards others.

It can manifest in various ways, such as procrastination, deliberate mistakes, sullenness, or silent treatment.

Historically, passive-aggressive behavior has been difficult to quantify due to its covert nature and a lack of standardized measurement tools. However, a recent paper published by psychologists Young-Ok Lim and Kyung-Hyun Suh of Sahmyook University in Korea, titled "Development and Validation of a Measure of Passive Aggression Traits: The Passive Aggression Scale (PAS)," bridges this gap.

The introduction of the PAS represents an advancement in psychological research, equipping clinicians and researchers with a robust tool to understand and assess passive aggression.

References: Lim, Y. O., & Suh, K. H. (2022). Development and validation of a measure of passive aggression traits: the Passive Aggression Scale (PAS). Behavioral Sciences, 12(8), 273.

Step 1: Rate the following statements based on how much you agree with them on a scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree.

1. When I talk about someone I dislike or find uncomfortable, I pretend to praise their strengths but also drop hints about their weaknesses.

2. I tattle on mistakes made by someone I don't like or find uncomfortable to a higher authority to ruin their reputation.

3. I intentionally reveal embarrassing events or the dark pasts of someone I dislike or find uncomfortable in public.

4. I ask someone I don't like or find uncomfortable questions they can't answer in front of others to make them uncomfortable.

5. I mock someone I don't like or find uncomfortable by being sarcastic and pretending it's just a joke.

6. When I have something I want to say about someone I dislike or find uncomfortable, I talk about it with others in plain sight of them.

7. I pretend I am the victim to give someone I dislike or find uncomfortable a hard time.

8. I purposefully avoid eye contact with someone I don't like or find uncomfortable.

9. When I meet someone I dislike or find uncomfortable, I try to get away from them intentionally.

10. I cut ties with someone I dislike or find uncomfortable even though I know they want to get in touch with me and find out how I am doing.

11. When someone I dislike or find uncomfortable tries to connect with me by phone, I deliberately choose to ignore them.

12. I give someone I dislike or find uncomfortable the silent treatment.

13. When someone on social media I dislike or find uncomfortable asks me a question, I pretend I never saw the question in the first place.

14. I have a cold and dismissive attitude toward someone I dislike or find uncomfortable.

15. I deliberately delay someone I dislike or find uncomfortable to give them a hard time.

16. I pretend to help someone I dislike or find uncomfortable but sabotage their work behind their back.

17. When I work with someone I dislike or find uncomfortable, I intentionally don't do my share of the work and end up penalizing them.

18. I come up with excuses and say things like: "I forgot" to someone I dislike or find uncomfortable.

19. I deliberately procrastinate when someone I dislike or find uncomfortable asks me to do something.

20. When someone I dislike or find uncomfortable asks me for a favor, I don't give it my all and do a sloppy job.

21. When someone I dislike or find uncomfortable asks me to do something, I don't do it properly and come up with excuses like: "I didn't know it was important."

0 of 0 questions answered

Step 2: Enter your age, gender, region, and first name so we can provide you with a detailed report that compares your test scores with people similar to you.

What is your age?

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What region of the world do you live in?

What is your first name?

Step 3: Check to make sure you've provided answers to all of the statements/questions above. Once you've done that, click the button below to send your responses to Awake Therapy's Lead Psychologist, Mark Travers, Ph.D. He will provide you with an overview of how you scored relative to others (all answers are anonymized and confidential to protect users' privacy). He can also answer any follow-up questions you may have.