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The Negativistic (Passive-Aggressive) Personality Disorder appears in Appendix B of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), titled "Criteria Sets and Axes Provided for Further Study."
People suffering from this disorder are pessimistic and have negativistic attitudes. They say things like: "good things don't last", "it doesn't pay to be good", "the future is behind me". They frustrate others' expectations and requests and resist even reasonable and minimal demands to perform in workplace and social settings. Passive-aggressives resent authority figures (boss, teacher, parent-like spouse).
There are many form of passive-aggressive negativism: procrastination, malingering, perfectionism, forgetfulness, neglect, truancy, intentional inefficiency, stubbornness, and outright sabotage. This misconduct affects the passive-aggressive's social milieu: it obstructs the efforts of his colleagues in the workplace, for instance.
People diagnosed with the Negativistic (Passive-Aggressive) Personality Disorder resemble narcissists: they chronically complain and criticize. They feel unappreciated, underpaid, cheated, and misunderstood. They blame their failures, misfortune, and defeats on others.
Passive-aggressives sulk and give the "silent treatment" in reaction to real or imagined slights. They are counterfactually convinced that, behind their backs, they are the subjects of derision, contempt, and condemnation ("ideas of reference"). Some passive-aggressives are mildly paranoid and believe in a wide-ranging conspiracy against them. In the words of the DSM: "They may be sullen, irritable, impatient, argumentative, cynical, skeptical and contrary." They are also hostile, explosive, lack impulse control, and, sometimes, reckless.
People diagnosed with the Negativistic (Passive-Aggressive) Personality Disorder envy the fortunate, the successful, the famous, their superiors, those in favor, and the happy. They are openly defiant, but, when reprimanded, they immediately beg forgiveness, go on a charm offensive,, and promise to behave and perform better in the future.
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