What's interesting is high-conflict personalities
seem to—we've really boiled it down to four
key characteristics.
The first and maybe the most stunning is a
preoccupation with blaming other people.
It's really, "It's all your fault,"—and
you may have experienced this—"and it's
not at all my fault".
That's zero.
"My part of the problem is zero."
And that's how high-conflict people talk.
And they'll say, "Don't you get it?
It's all your fault."
The second is a lot of all-or-nothing thinking.
"Of course it's all your fault, but my way
or the highway."
Solutions to problems are: "There's all-good
people and there's all-bad people."
So they have this kind of all-or-nothing perspective.
A third is often, but not always, unmanaged
emotions.
And you may see that; people that just start
yelling or just start crying or just storm
out of a room—that kind of behavior we're
seeing, but it's emotions that they're not
managing.
And the fourth is extremes of behavior.
And one thing I talk about in the book 'Five
Types of People' is this 90 percent rule,
that 90 percent of people don't do some of
the things that high-conflict people do.
So if you see some shocking behavior and then
the person makes an excuse for it, that's
often the tip of the iceberg.
So it's preoccupation with blaming others,
all-or-nothing thinking, unmanaged emotions,
and extreme behaviors.
That seems to be the pattern for high-conflict
personalities.
People that have those we call high-conflict
people.
But, by the way, don't tell them that you
think that—that'll blow up in your face.
So target of blame seems to be why these folks
can become so difficult.
If you're the target of blame your life may
be ruined by one of these folks, and that's
what people need to become aware of.
So the target of blame—each of these five
high-conflict personalities tends to zero
in generally on one person.
It could change over time but they see that
person as the cause of all their problems.
And so they want to control that person or
eliminate that person or destroy or humiliate
that person.
It's a fixation on one person, and all of
their life problems they emotionally focus
on that person.
So you don't want to be one of those folks.
How to avoid being a target of blame?
First of all, if you see warning signs of
this behavior don't get too close to such
a person.
You may be a friend, but don't be the closest
friend.
You may be a co-worker, but don't be the closest
co-worker.
Because what seems to happen is the people
they get really close to are the ones that
are most at-risk of becoming their targets
of blame.
But it could be anybody.
They tend to target intimate others and people
in authority.
So this could be boyfriends, girlfriends,
husbands, wives, parents, children, co-workers,
neighbors they get close to.
It also could be police, it could be a government
agency or government official, it could be
their boss, it could be the company owner.
So they tend to focus on intimate others and/or
people in authority.
Now the way to avoid becoming a target of
blame is not getting too close to them but
also not engaging in conflict with them.
They often invite conflict, like they'll say
outrageous things and you may feel like you've
got to persuade them that they're wrong, and
that's what I call a "forget about it".
Just forget about it.
You're not going to change their mind.
If they're a difficult person, a high-conflict
person, this is who they are, and you may
not really even exist for them.
So if you argue with them they're not going
to change.
So save yourself the trouble.
But when people challenge them is often when
they turn against you, and they see you in
their all-or-nothing eyes as "all bad".
And so you don't want to have that kind of
relationship.
So if you're in a personal relationship, family
relationship, neighbor, co-worker, et cetera,
you can manage relationships with these folks,
but usually at an arm's length, and don't
make it too confrontational.
Don't say they have a high-conflict personality.
Don't argue with them or try to convince them.
Don't try to give them insight into themselves.
You can just say, "Oh well, that's interesting.
Hey, I've got to go now."
Something like that.
