What does ""hot buttons,"" mean? When it comes to dealing with relational challenges wisely, the starting point is always your relationship with yourself. If you don't have self-awareness and an appreciation of who you are as a human being, you'll find that your relationships are going to be fraught with frustrations. By understanding your own reactions and "hot buttons," you can better understand others. By knowing your most characteristic way of dealing with all your life's issues and challenges, you'll get a better picture of how your personal orientation mixes with the orientations of others. What does ""hot buttons,"" mean? I looked up the dictionary for the word "hot buttons." It says that a hot button is a subject or problem that people have very strong feelings about. So Can it be like by understanding your own reactions and the problems people think you have? In this situation,what are hot buttons ?