How to behave towards toxic people: 6 tips
Toxic people are those who, in a great variety of situations, will take us with them to situations of domination or hostility and confrontation. Some may be better than others when it comes to disguising the fact that they are a bad influence, but usually, in most cases it does not take much work to realize their ease in creating situations in which someone is harmed.
In spite of this, it is clear that due to the simple matter of probability, it is impossible to always stay out of this type of person. In certain circumstances, you have to relate to them, even in contexts that you have not searched for yourself. In this article we will see how to behave towards toxic people .
- Related article: "The 9 signs to identify and neutralize a toxic person"
How to deal with toxic people
It is true that each person is, in part, a product of the circumstances that he has had to live. We can hardly say that someone is the way he is because he has decided to behave that way.
We have some room to maneuver to decide what to do in each situation, but also our personality influences us a lot and the way in which we have learned to relate with the environment and with others. We are conditioned by elements that escape our will.
However, in practice, not everyone has the time and resources to take on the responsibility of re-educating the toxic people around us. Because It is useful to know what to do on a day-to-day basis when you have to deal with them . Let's see it through the following tips.
1. Do not give them undeserved attention
In many cases, the negative attitudes transmitted by toxic people are only a way to gain power of influence by making people in their environment emotionally involved in conflicts, to be able to be on their side. Generate problems where there are not through fictions based on lies or exaggerations .
Thus, in these cases the best thing is precisely to ignore these attempts to position ourselves for or against a non-existent conflict beyond the imagination of the toxic person.
2. Do not take it personally
Some toxic people have a tendency to speak ill of others. In these cases, the best option is indifference. Staying away from these ideas is a good way to not give them an importance they lack, while avoiding the possibility of generate the confrontation that would appear in case of questioning these ideas , which would only feed the hostile climate that this type of attitude favors.
- Maybe you're interested: "Psychology of conflict: the theories that explain wars and violence"
3. Learn to hold the reins of conversation
Unless the toxic person has a role that allows him to clearly make decisions that affect you, such as if he is your boss, you can limit yourself to not letting him impose his command on the dynamics of the conversation.
For it, make the dialogue go back to its normal channels when you want to change the subject according to your interests, and ignore any comment that has nothing to do with what the conversation should theoretically go on.
4. Be clear the red lines
Although, as a general rule, indifference is the best recipe for toxic people, it is also necessary to know what kind of actions or attitudes are unacceptable. Things like physical aggression, attempts to publicly humiliate someone or spread serious lies to defame someone are examples of this, regardless of whether they are something that is done continuously or not .
5. Attend to your attempts to redeem yourself
The fact that someone can be defined as a toxic person does not mean that they will always behave unethically and immorally. Reality is beyond fiction stories in which the good is very good and the bad is very bad.
Therefore, even they can show signs of repentance, trying to redeem themselves. In these cases, yes it is good to reward these efforts and adopt a closer and empathetic attitude with them. Hopefully, learning to behave in these ways can improve the way you relate to others.
However, in the absence of these cases, it is best to follow the next advice.
6. By default, ignore them
Ignoring them is the default option. This does not mean that you should empty them , since this can be considered a form of abuse if, for example, you do not even respond to anything they say. It does not mean that you should avoid them in a literal sense, because this would greatly condition your lifestyle, on the one hand, and on the other you would give them importance.
The most appropriate thing is, in general, to react alone or to those actions on your part that are clearly good and admirable, or to those that given the context are necessary because the purpose of these interactions benefit you or benefit more people. For example, at work, in the management of procedures, etc.
