How to Handle a Toxic Person-Without Canceling Them

"These individuals might well harbor what psychologists call dark personality traits: psychopathy, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and sadism. People with dark personalities are callous, manipulative, and antagonistic. They violate rules, lie and cheat, hurt others, and pursue their own interests heedless of the consequences on others."

"But what if this callous and manipulative person is your child? We may favor a tumultuous relationship with them over none at all. What if these traits appear in a brother- or sister-in-law—someone you can't cancel without also losing touch with your beloved sibling?"

"Here's the hard truth: cancel culture alone isn't enough to help us navigate a world with dark personalities in it. That doesn't mean we must resign ourselves to a life..."

Canceling harmful individuals offers psychological satisfaction through moral clarity and perceived safety. However, people exhibiting dark personality traits—psychopathy, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and sadism—often occupy unavoidable positions in our lives as family members, colleagues, or in-laws. These individuals display callousness, manipulation, and antagonism while disregarding consequences for others. The complexity arises when complete cancellation isn't feasible: severing ties with a problematic child means losing that relationship entirely, removing a difficult sibling-in-law risks losing contact with beloved family, and leaving a job over a toxic colleague may not be practical. Cancel culture alone proves insufficient for navigating relationships with dark personalities when complete removal isn't a viable option.

Read at Psychology Today