Speaks up front, when asked says yes, but his heart says no. We often find individuals with this attitude. It's as if they agree with us, but they don't really agree. This can be found in an organization, a subordinate who always obeys the orders of his superiors, but he harbors insubordination to those orders.
This symptom is called resentful compliance. It is the behavior of agreeing to requests or rules from superiors or companies, despite actually feeling reluctant, displeased, or annoyed, and then harboring displeasure. It is often driven by fear of disappointment, fear of being scolded, punished or emotionally abandoned.
In practice, individuals with this behavior usually carry out tasks and orders formally, but with feelings of resentment, disappointment, or even pent-up anger. He or she is not openly disobedient, but also not fully present inwardly.
This type of conflict is difficult to resolve without consulting a psychologist, and can create a major rift between employees, or between supervisor-subordinate relationships.
In philosophical terms, resentful compliance occurs when humans are reduced to mere laborers-doing tasks with no room for action. They lose the opportunity to act as meaningful subjects in the public sphere.
From a 1951 philosophical essay by French writer Albert Camus , L'Homme Révolté, resentful compliance in the corridors of work relationships is a form of "living in absurdity"-performing meaningless routines, but not yet rebellion.
However, Camus also offers a path of honest, not destructive, inner rebellion. Employees can choose to realize the absurdity, and still act with integrity as a form of dignified resistance.
The phenomenon of resentful compliance is not just an organizational problem, but a mirror of the modern existential crisis, of humans losing meaning, voice, and space to be themselves. Philosophy invites us to realize the structures that shape us, find the space for inner freedom, and act with value, not just survive.
This submissive person who harbors dissatisfaction and disagreement often feels unheard, misunderstood, unloved and voiceless. He often avoids conflict. However, if he does not want to end up in trouble, he needs to realize it and start expressing his dissatisfaction with what is happening.
On the other hand, a colleague who is often angry and upset could be because we also never keep our commitments. Or never realize what he himself said. Therefore, the key that each person in the organization must hold is commitment.
The phenomenon of resentful compliance is a reminder to re-imagine the world of work. Not just a place to earn a living, but a space for growth, participation and self-disclosure. This outcome demands structural change-from a work culture that pressurizes to one that listens. Tolerant and committed. But there also needs to be an inner shift-from bitter compliance to conscious action.
Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl said that there is a space between stimulus and response. In that space lies our freedom to choose our response. And in that freedom lies our growth and happiness.
It could be that in times of exhausting routine, we can start from that space of freedom to choose again, to what extent we can participate, both in the family environment, work as well as around the place of residence.
