Do you think being "petty" is a negative character trait?

Question

I define petty as taking something minor and insignificant and blowing it out of proportion and holding on to it for a very long time. What do you think?

Answer 1

As an exampler I would give you a hypothetical situation

A guy in the park throws trash on the ground

You yell at him "Hey! Throw that out!"

He starts walkign away.

You mug him.

You are blowign soemthign otu of proportion but it really depends on whsoe point of view as to whether its jsutified or not.

Answer 2

I usually use petty to mean immature and a definite character flaw.  

Answer 3

its not a flaw, its something that is natural to you. some people can shrug things off, some can't

Answer 4

PETTY:

typical of a small-minded person: marked by narrowness, or meanness.

Certainly sounds like a negative character trait to me.  

Answer 5

I think Pavlov's daughter hit it on the head  and the only thing I would add is that I think being petty is a negative personality characteristic and it is maladaptive - the only person who is really hurt is the person being petty; other people move on.

Answer 6

Everyone is petty about certain things.  We all have things that we obsess over. Some people are petty about everything which makes them tedious and boring to be around.  My husband remembers every time I did or did not do the laundry for six years (petty) I remember every time he was late getting home (petty).