Not sure why a particular person treats you the way they do? Maybe
they are just jealous. When people experience fame, success, financial
advantage, or just get to live a happy and peaceful life, they attract
other’s admiration as well as jealousy. Jealousy is a feeling that we
would all be better off without. But unfortunately, it is one of our
inherent human traits. If you are not able to interpret why someone is
acting the way they are, understanding if they are jealous helps a lot.
Here are the signs you need to look out for.
1. Jealous People Ply You With Insincere Compliments And False Praises
One thing that jealous people never want to admit is that they are jealous of you. When good news comes in, they do the sneaky thing by acting overly supportive and giving you insincere compliments. Once they are in the clear, the claws come out.
An insecure person would praise you when you are in front of them but would tell lies or gossip about you behind your back. Be careful of such people; they are double-faced. In fact, you hardly stand any chance of exposing their real nature. That is why you should always pay close attention to what you confide in others. Always ask your buddies if someone has been talking trash about you behind your back.
When someone is jealous of you, they often pause for a long silent moment before congratulating you or telling you that you have done a great job. That reaction is caused due to their secret envy of your success.
2. Jealous People Are Excellent Copycats
Although some psychologists believe that copycat behavior is often a sign of flattery, it is not always the case. Someone who is envious of you may also try to mimic your behavior and imitate every single thing you do. They could go as far as copying hairstyles, dressing, walking, and talking the same way you do. Even if you find it flattering at first, sooner or later, it will start to get really irritating. The best you can do in this situation is to try not to pay a lot of attention to the copycat.
Jealous people are obsessed with what you have – and they want it. For jealous individuals, it is like a game of “who wore it better.” Expect those people to imitate you in many different ways. If you often get all the attention, they will imitate your fashion style and add their own little flair to it. If you are a good dancer, they will take up dance classes as well. It can seem like a good thing if they behave this way, but they are actually just obsessing over you. It is most likely that they don’t even like you or the things they copy from you.
3. They Flaunt Their Successes, Often More Than Their Actual Merit
While you may be too humble to voice or enjoy your achievements, jealous people often try to make themselves feel better by drowning out your achievements by overemphasizing their own. This will happen even if their achievements are way smaller in comparison to yours.
Most often, when jealous people achieve success in anything, they will try to make the whole world aware of it. They will openly flaunt their successes. Usually, people who behave this way are extremely envious of others’ achievements and are terribly insecure. They would do anything and everything to prove that they are worth at least as much, if not more.
4. Jealous People Deliberately Give Bad Advice
Since jealous people don’t want you to add more achievements to your kitty, they sabotage your attempts purposely by giving you bad advice. Or they may just simply discourage you from even trying.
Remember, what they truly want in life is for you to fail. If you ask someone who is jealous of you for advice about a problem, they will most probably deliberately give you bad advice. The logic is, if they are already jealous of you right now, they are not likely to tell you how you can do better. They may even make it their life’s mission to discourage you from trying new things. If you are excited about a plan you made, they will be the first one to point out any conceivable flaws in it, just to deflate your dream balloon.
5. Jealous People Love To Dish The Dirt On You
Research has shown that people who gossip a lot have very high levels of aggression, anxiety, or are immensely unhappy. They gossip more than others because they want to feel superior even though they are extremely insecure about themselves. They aren’t, in fact, confident in themselves.
People who are jealous of you could try to ruin your reputation by spreading false rumors or making negative comments about you to others. Jealous people are often non-confrontational. They may even pass off as super-friendly; they fight their fight against you underhandedly. They will downplay your achievements, spread malicious gossip about you, or just talk crap regarding you behind your back.
6. They Are Very Competitive
As we mentioned before, it is a jealous person’s nature to try to outdo you in every way possible. They want to steal all the glory – because they think that you don’t deserve it. Due to this, they are extremely competitive, especially if it is at the workplace. They will go to any lengths to exceed the efforts you make.
While it could be extremely tempting to confront them, you need to refuse to make the competition unhealthy. Refusing to be a part of their cat and mouse game will make them less likely to try to compete with you.
7. Jealous People Will Criticize You
Have you ever met someone who criticizes you at every chance they get? Does it almost seem like they look forward to it? Yes, it is very likely that this person harbors jealousy towards you.
An average person will drop some criticism at you at some point, but jealous people will make a career out of it. They will point out your mistakes every day and enjoy doing it. They may even do so in the most inappropriate of times and embarrass you in public.
8. Jealous People Tend To Cross Their Legs
According to a body language expert, a person may cross their legs for a lot of reasons. This is quite a common reaction when one feels uneasy and insecure and also when they are jealous of somebody or about something.
If your “buddy” instinctively crosses their legs every time you share your achievement with them, it could be a signal that they actually envy you.
9. Jealous People Celebrate Your Failures
Of course, jealous people will not do something obvious like breaking into a victory dance when your boss scolds you for a mistake. But darling, count on it, deep inside, they will be really happy at your fall and celebrate your failures. They will be in an unusually good mood once they learn of your failure, and then they will pretend to be friendly and offer fake consolation just to ply more info from you.
10. Jealous People Are Great Plan-Spoilers
A sign that someone is jealous of you is that they will happily give you bad news on the pretext that they are helping you or doing you a favor. For example, you have decided to go to a picnic. Upon sharing your plan with your “friend,” they will instantly tell you that it is surely going to rain for the next few days. They will say the first thing that comes to their mind to create doubt in yours. Pay attention if your “friend” says or does something that could potentially spoil your plans or make you worry about negative possibilities.