“It's totally OK not to get along with some of your relatives,” Francis Merson, Clinical Psychologist and Founder of the Paris Psychology Centre, told Bored Panda. “In fact, it would be remarkable to get along with the multitude of cousins, aunts, nephews, second cousins etc. that most of us have.”

So no wonder that conflicts happen now and then, and it seems like there’s never really peace in your extended family. “If there's been some kind of conflict with a relative, it can be useful to zoom out from the situation with the following thought experiment... Imagine you're at the very end of your life, and you're looking back on your current situation. What advice would you give to yourself now? To smooth things over with this relative and keep the peace? Or let the relationship slide and move on?”

According to Merson, there's no right or wrong answer to these questions, “but they can take you out of the heat of the moment and prompt you to reflect on which course of action is most in line with your deeper values.”

The clinical psychologist explained that entitlement is an entrenched belief that you deserve more than other people do. “Entitled people often feel that the rules don't apply to them, and they should be allowed to act with impunity. A sense of entitlement can also be involved in Narcissistic Personality Disorder,” Merson explained and added that “Entitled people can often cross people's boundaries, because they think these boundaries don't apply to them.”

When asked how one should deal with an entitled relative, Merson said that you may have to come to terms with it. “If your relative is an entitled person, you might need to accept that you're not going to alter this personality trait by calling them out on their behavior (as tempting as it might be to do so!).”

Moreover, “Entitled people generally react poorly to criticism, and might end up putting all the blame on you,” Merson said. He continued: “So the first question to consider is: would it be wiser and kinder to myself just to let this go? This doesn't mean accepting that what they did was right or OK, but accepting that there's nothing useful you can do about it right now.”

That being said, there are some things you can't just let go. The clinical psychologist said that “if your relative has crossed a line that could result in physical or emotional harm to yourself or others, then of course you have to act.”

“In this case, basic assertiveness can be useful. Describe, in simple terms, their behavior, the effect it is having on others—and ask them politely to stop. If they don't stop, then problem-solve the situation by looking after the people who you feel are at risk of harm—which could mean just getting out of there,” Merson concluded.