Why Your Calmness Makes Them Angry

This text explores how **hostility in toxic environments** is often triggered by what a person **refrains from doing** rather than by a specific mistake. While healthy systems respond to actions, dysfunctional ones rely on **control and predictability**, viewing a lack of participation or emotional reaction as a **direct threat**. By refusing to provide expected signals like **fear, compliance, or validation**, an individual inadvertently disrupts the established power structure. This **passive resistance** causes the system to escalate aggression as a tool to **enforce conformity** and regain dominance. Ultimately, the author suggests that shifting focus from **self-blame** to identifying the **roles we refuse to play** reveals the true nature of these coercive dynamics.