How to irritate people

Fairfax Media

GRRR: Here are 20 things you could do to irritate someone.

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Telemarketing calls, bad drivers and poor customer service are our most irritating bugbears, 4400 people have confirmed.

Inventions of modern life such as spam email, inconsiderate mobile phone use and speech recognition answering services rated significantly higher on the aggravation scale than longstanding irritants such as barking dogs and having to wait in line.

The results, released yesterday, reveal the majority of Australians think the number of daily hassles and irritating situations we endure has increased in the past five years.

From a list of 32 common daily hassles, respondents were asked to indicate which irritated them.

Inconsiderate behaviour - including dinner-time telemarketing calls, talking to a "robot" and not a "real person", unfriendly or uncaring customer service, driving dangerously to get ahead of traffic, competing for a car space or queue jumping - was a universal annoyance.

People older than 40 experienced more irritation around technology, violence (on TV and on the streets) and bad language than younger respondents.

The Australian Psychological Society, which conducted the nationwide survey, said an individual's response to stress could have an adverse impact on health, leading to high blood pressure, anxiety and relationship troubles. Spokeswoman Amanda Gordon said that while a large majority of respondents didn't retaliate or become physically or verbally aggressive, most people tended to be passive, preferring to talk themselves through the situation, talk to someone else or plan how to avoid the situation again.

She said people needed to learn how to be assertive to deal with situations that really get under their skin. "We know that not responding in an assertive way can [affect] self-esteem and, in some cases, even lead to anxiety or depression."

The best way to deal with an irritating situation was to state the other person's need, state your own, then find a compromise that tried to meet everyone's needs, she said.

"Being assertive is not generally a skill that comes naturally to us and requires effort and training but helps to ensure a 'win-win' outcome."

The top strategies participants used to manage their irritations included humour (36 per cent), taking a few deep breaths and staying calm (32 per cent), talking themselves through the issue (28 per cent), talking to someone else (27 per cent), planning how to avoid getting into the same situation again (23 per cent) and exercising (21 per cent).

* What irritates you? Post you comments below.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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helen tustin   #226   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

BABY ON BOARD???!!!! SO WHAT???? who cares?

Anon   #225   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

vivienne campbell annoys me.

Roto   #224   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Drunks, 99% of stupid crap that happens, bet ya grog was involved somewhere

Meril   #223   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

religious people, of any sort-you are so disrespectful people that say somethink and dat instead of that also vivienne campbell GET A LIFE

Meril   #222   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

religious people, of any sort that is completely disrespectful but what does annoy me is people that say dat instead of that ect

Nikki   #221   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Hi mag, sorry to be picky, but in journalism the bracket is used slightly differently - in this and many other cases it is used to complete an otherwise incomplete quote. The bracket is there because the person from whom the quote was taken did not actually say the word in it, but without it the sentance would be incomplete or grammatically incorrect- so like you say, additional information. Hope this may solve your irk in future!

Nikki   #220   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Man, you're an angry indavidual, aren't you? Just one little thing, before branding others as "Dummies" maybe you should double-check your own spelling and grammar....

Trish   #219   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Oh Ms Campbell (number 3) let's just hope that a) no one that knows you reads this and gives you hell for it (actually.... maybe I should be hoping for that) and b) you don't have to go to hospital any time soon. I have known a few people who have been to hospital lately with such conditions as a premature babie and cancer.. do you really think that you would want someone un-qualified to be looking after a sick child of yours .... It must be really hard being you... One thing that definitley irritates me.. PEOPLE LIKE YOU. And you can be sure, not that much phases me... Something tells me that if you've seen all this you might seriously be feeling really stink right now.

God bless. (he he)

andrew   #218   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Mostly just people like Vivienne Campbell (#3)

Sarah   #217   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Ahh, I love reading these posts. There are some seriously funny comments on here.

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