This is how you defend yourself against toxic people at work

Berlin Throughout your career, you will always meet people who will make your working life difficult. This could be the arrogant boss who only cares about his opinion. Or the fellow who never gets involved, but claims loudly that every good idea from others is his own.

At best, these fellows are annoying. At worst, they behave in such a toxic way that they poison the mood and reduce the productivity of the entire team. The problem: You often only get to know these people after the fact — and you wonder how you could have let yourself go blind for so long.

Tessa West, a professor of social psychology at New York University, has studied workplace conflict for many years. In her book Jerks at Work: Toxic Workers and what to do about them I identified seven toxic action figures. You can find them here – including tips on how best to deal with them.