I've historically avoided confrontation (I'm in my 30s now) but less so as I got older. I remember living with someone who would take my CDs out of my stereo and leave them uncovered on the counter-top, and I ignored it and put them back in. Reason being is that I'd already been kicked out from a couple of places in years past, so I tried not to rock the boat (black or white thinking, in hindsight). Bad move - I suffered escalating abuse from this "person" until I was forced to leave to preserve my sanity.
In more recent years, I have been more diplomatic and calm with confrontation, like in customer service situations or with friends or my wife, and generally it has worked out well. But one area where I don't feel as inclined to use it is in workplace bullying, of which I have had three female managers in the past target me because of my Aspie-ness - they made me feel that I was already treading on thin ice, one of them turned other people against me, so I had to suck it up, I felt. Any confrontation would have likely culminated in one of three responses: a) denial of wrongdoing on their part, b) being told that they wouldn't "have to" treat me this way if I only "listened to what people were really telling me" or c) being told that maybe I can't handle the job and should consider other avenues. Despite the fact that I got positive feedback from others and I never got fired from those jobs (but let go in a mass layoff later on, and I was written up on two occasions for embarrassing mistakes). If I did confront, I would approach it with a more diplomatic angle as much as possible, so I wouldn't get the "how dare you" response.
