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Covert Passive-Aggressive Bullying
Covert bullying is, as it's name suggests, a form of undercover bullying. Being passive-aggressive, it is usually non-physical in nature, but, it is nonetheless considered one of the most damaging. It is conducted in a way that those around the victim rarely have an insight in to what is happening. The Australian organization Bullying No Way describes it so in their article FAQs: How can we identify bullying?:

Covert bullying is a subtle type of non-physical bullying which usually isn't easily seen by others and is conducted out of sight of, and often unacknowledged by adults. Covert bullying behaviours mostly inflict harm by damaging another's social reputation, peer relationships and self-esteem. Covert bullying can be carried out in a range of ways (e.g. spreading rumours, conducting a malicious social exclusion campaign and/or through the use of internet or mobile phone technologies).

Covert passive-aggressive bullying includes social exclusion and intimidation. The term ‘covert’ highlights the fact that not all bullying is physical or obvious to others. Covert bullying can have the same harmful impacts as more obvious bullying, as it can be more isolating, can go on for longer before other people become aware of it, and can be more easily denied by the other person.

Although this might sound trivial when compared to physical bullying, when this is repeated over a length of time the effects can be devastating to the victim. The campaign against the victim, through manipulation and control, will eventually result in their isolation within their social or work group to the extent that the only viable option is to leave. The operation is now complete. Bully Free at Work states in their article, Being Ignored as a Bullying Tactic:"Now think about being ignored, left out and pushed aside…day after day…after day…after day… This repeated ignoring is one of the worst types of bullying known."

This form of bullying is considered one of the most damaging to the victim. Psychology Today mentions this in their article 5 Ways That Adults Bully Each Other: This is a less frequently mentioned form of bullying, but in some ways it's the most insidious. With many bullies, you can see them coming because they are quick to make their intimidating presence known. A passive-aggressive or covert bully, however, behaves appropriately on the surface, but takes you down with subtlety.

Examples of passive-aggressive and covert bullying include negative gossip, negative joking at someone’s expense, sarcasm, condescending eye contact, facial expression or gestures, mimicking to ridicule, deliberately causing embarrassment and insecurity, the invisible treatment, social exclusion, professional isolation, and deliberately sabotaging someone’s well-being, happiness, and success.

"Behind the smile, a hidden knife!" ―Ancient Chinese proverb describing passive-aggressive behavior.

Joe Mannetti backs this understanding up in his article The Bullying Power of Exclusion:"It is potentially just as hurtful, damaging, and powerful as physical or verbal bullying. It is often referred to as “the silent killer” – the bullying act of social exclusion."

An extension to this is to further isolate the victim by affecting an overly friendly persona when conversing with others in the presence of the victim. This is, in effect, telling the victim that “I am not talking to you”. This form of bullying is usually perfected so that only the intended victim is aware of the issue. Elise Wise states in the article Emotional Bullying in the Workplace and Ignoring or Excluding: When someone behaves in a passive-aggressive manner, she acts aggressively in a way that is difficult for others to detect or prove.

For example, a colleague who is behaving in this way might “forget” to invite you to enjoy a birthday celebration with the other workers or might say "good morning" to everyone in the office but you.

When the bully realizes that others are beginning to become aware of the issues, those people can be added to the exclusions. An example would be when passing around a card for a colleague's birthday, it would only be passed to a select few for signing. It would be so tightly controlled by the bully to the extent that it would be them that organized the delivery. In this way those that did sign would be oblivious to the fact that some didn't get the opportunity to do so.

As with the other forms of bullying, passive bullies show a strong correlation with the aversive nature of the Dark tetrad: The personality traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism. They are called "dark" because of their malevolent qualities.