Most dysfunctional behavior stems from fear

Most dysfunctional behavior stems from fear. Examples:

• Someone who behaves arrogantly in social situations is trying to prove that they are worthy and interesting, out of a sense of fear that they are actually not.
• Someone who expects others to guess what they want doesn’t want to ask for what they want because they fear coming across as selfish, or fear secretly being selfish.
• Someone who avoids conflict does so out of a fear that conflict will hurt them or someone else’s perception of them.

Related: ‘Should’ comes from fear, Efforting and perfectionism come from fear, Anger often covers fear or hurt