Stanford professor spends years trying to decipher a--hole behavior

Stanford Prof. Robert Sutton wrote a book about identifying and avoiding annoying people. (stanford.edu)

There are books out there on how to survive alien abductions and zombie attacks, but now – finally – a Stanford professor has penned a tome about fending off a very real threat: the common a--hole.

And it only took more than a decade of “field-tested, evidence-based, and sometimes surprising strategies” to figure out how to do it.

“People would write me saying ‘I have an a--hole problem, help me,’” Robert Sutton, a professor of organization behavior and engineering, told the Daily Mail.

Sutton explains in his 224-page “A--hole Survival Guide” that people who act this way often get ahead in life – but it comes with consequences.

“It does help you as an individual but it doesn't help you lead an effective organization,” he told the Daily Mail. “They leave behind a trail of enemies and they are less effective in their job.”

Sutton describes a--holes as people who leave you “demeaned, disrespected or de-energized.”

The book promises to teach readers how to develop “protective psychological armor” against a--holes through field-tested research, its description reads.

Some of Sutton’s tips for defeating a--holes – without becoming one in the process -- is to distance yourself from them, find humor in their ramblings or feel sad they need to act the way they do.

If that doesn’t work, you could also confront them with kindness.

“Flattery and a-- kissing does seem to work,” Sutton said.