Dealing with a jealous person in life can be tough. There are many different reasons why people get jealous of others, and it’s usually part of an ongoing emotional struggle.
It can be difficult tell whether someone is jealous of you – they may randomly criticize you for something small, or try to belittle your achievements. Let’s look through some of the reasons why people are jealous, and then how we can identify these people in our own lives.
Why Are People Jealous In The First Place?
The truth is that jealousy often stems from comparison, insecurity, or a sense of unfairness, so it can come from a wide range of situations.
Here are some of the most common reasons why other people may be jealous of you:
1. Success: Achieving success in various aspects of life such as career, academics, sports, or any other pursuits can often lead to jealousy from others. Not everyone likes to see another person’s success, especially if they already know them.
2. Physical Appearance: If you’re perceived as more attractive by societal standards, this might cause others to be envious. This is because they feel inferior on a physical level, even though there’s not much you can do about it.
3. Wealth: People can become jealous if you possess more financial resources or material wealth, or if you come from a wealthy background. In some sense this is normal, as most people secretly envy those with more money than them.
4. Relationships: If you have a supportive and loving partner or a strong network of friends, others might feel envious. This can explain why other’s may be overly critical of your relationship, even if they’re not in one themselves.
5. Talent or Skills: If you are particularly skilled or talented in one or more areas, people might feel jealous, especially if they aspire to the same talents but struggle to attain them. Not everyone is born gifted or has the motivation for build up their own skills.
6. Confidence: People might be jealous of your confidence or self-assuredness, especially if they struggle with self-esteem themselves. It’s common for those will low self esteem to condemn others that have more confidence than them.
7. Popularity: If you’re well-liked and admired by many, this can spark feelings of jealousy in others. This can lead to them making negative comments about you.
8. Opportunities: You may have had certain opportunities—like travel, education, or unique experiences—that others haven’t had and might be envious of. This can often occur two ways, with two people being jealous of each other’s opportunities.
9. Health and Fitness: If you’re in great physical shape or have strong mental health, this could cause others to be jealous. Staying in shape is increasingly difficult, and they may feel terribly insecure about their own body.
10. Happiness: If you seem genuinely happy and content with your life, others who are unhappy might feel jealous. This will fade away as they begin to build the foundations of their own life.
Remember, though, that everyone’s life has its own challenges, and appearances can be deceptive. An envious person doesn’t necessarily make a bad person.
It’s also worth noting that someone else’s jealousy is more about them than about you, and that jealous is a natural human emotion that we all feel at some point in our life. It’s best to focus on your own journey and try not to get swept up in these negative emotions.
But in our day to day life, how can we spot such people in our lives? These are some telltale signs that someone is jealous of you.
Jealous People Ply You With Insincere Compliments And False Praises
When you have good news to share with them, they give insincere compliments and shower you with praise that goes a little too far. It can be very difficult to differentiate this from when someone is being genuine, and actually, in most cases people never identify this type of jealous.
But if you have high emotional intelligence, you may be able to see it. These types of passive-aggressive behaviors where a person doesn’t really want what’s best for you can be insidious, though unfortunately is all too common.
They overemphasize their achievements
When chatting to them, jealous people usually try and make themselves feel superior by over-emphasizing their accomplishments. This is especially true if they’ve achieved the same or more than you, as they’ll bring up their own achievements to try and downplay yours.
It happens most commonly within families amongst siblings, but it can also happen with friends too. You share your good news, and immediately they share that they’ve also achieved something similar in the past.
Jealous People Deliberately Give Bad Advice
Because jealousy people want you to fail, they’ll sometimes try and give you bad advice with an intention for you to fail. They could also discourage you from even trying to achieve something, even when they know you’re fully capable of doing it.
Unfortunately in this world, there are some people that are really looking forward to your failure, and are praying on your downfall. It’s important to turn this negativity into a positive though and show them exactly what you’re capable of.
Jealous People Will Criticize You
Generally, criticism is something that all of us have to deal with at times. However, there’s a big difference between constructive criticism and just critiquing someone for the sake of it, and jealous people make a career out of it.
They are going to notice your smallest mistakes and amplify them so they’re a much bigger deal than they actually are. If you think someone is doing this, it’s usually because they’re secretly jealous of you.
They are utterly competitive
Jealousy means that the other person always wants to be ahead of you – they can never let you have your moment in the sun. This makes them uber-competitive with you, and they’re constantly trying to get a one-up on you if they can.
In this case, it’s important to only worry about your own accomplishments, as what they achieve doesn’t really affect you. However, it can definitely be annoying when they try and turn everything into a competition.
They take satisfaction in your mistakes and failures
How often does someone take pleasure in your downfall? More often than you probably know, and jealous people love to see other people around them fail, even if you’re supposed to be friends.
Most of their own behavior probably comes from feeling frustrated and unhappy with their own life. It is important that you don’t let this impact you, as it’s essentially a them probably, not a you problem.
They Copy You In Everything
It is commonly said imitation is flattery, and it’s fair to say that this phrase is fairly accurate. However, one of the main reasons that people copy the things that you do is because they’re jealous of you.
When someone is jealous of you, they copy your style, from the way that you dress through to the way that you act. This is another of the most common signs that someone is jealous of you.
The Answer: Spend more time with people who genuinely like and love you
Getting caught up with other people’s jealously can be draining, and it can actually have a negative effect on your life. However, the truth is that you should remember to prioritize contact with people in your life that are worth your effort, such as your true friends and the people that love you.
The bonds you build with people who bring value into your life are much more important than worrying about those that spend their time being jealous of you. So, try to focus on the positive people in your life as opposed to entertaining the jealous ones.
