The professional counselor referred to research done by Sophia Waters in 2012 where she presented rudeness as “a unique, non-cooperative or competitive kind of behavior that often ends up destabilizing basic interactions.”
Dr. Luster said: “If we take a moment to qualify the other person’s state, more often than not, such rudeness comes from the perceived injustices the person may feel they have experienced whether before or during an interaction.”
He suggested that instead of reacting to the rudeness, we ought to challenge our limbic system. “The limbic area of the brain is responsible for many things, and also contains much of the ‘feeling state’ energy we feel when rude behavior crosses our paths. Rude behaviors may trigger emotions in us, as we weigh what has just happened against our own inventory of what is right, what is wrong, and slights that feel like injustices. But these are responses that don’t need reactions that seek to equalize the status quo,” the founder of ‘Inspirethought’ explained to Bored Panda.
“When we are confronted with rude behavior, the person dispensing the behavior seeks to convey something, and perhaps even expects a response. However, not responding to their behavior throws a wrench in all of it. You don’t have to respond, and in fact, challenging your responses can be a healthy way to learn to exercise internal control. Revisioning such contexts as opportunities to exercise your own internal controls is a much better alternative. Let that executive front brain functioning kick in!”
