Not sure why they treat you the way they do? Maybe they’re just jealous! Wondering how to tell if someone is jealous of you? Watch for these signs.
When a person experiences success, fame, or just gets to live a good life, they attract admiration as well as jealousy. Jealousy is one thing that we’d be better off without. But sadly, it is one of our inherent human aspects. But if you can’t interpret why someone acts the way they do toward you, understanding how to tell if someone is jealous of you helps.
No one can say that they’ve never felt jealous at one point of their life. We live with it and hopefully when people mature, they grow out of it.
How to tell if someone is jealous of you:
“Jealousy is a snake in the grass” or so folk wisdom says. It hides itself so it becomes difficult to detect unlike other obvious emotions, like anger.
And like the snake metaphor, jealousy comes from people close to us. It may come from friends, co-workers, or even family. So how does one detect the “green-eyed monster” lurking within the people around them? Here are the signs.
#1 Jealous people ply you with false praise and insincere compliments. One thing jealous people want is to let others know that they are in fact not jealous of you.
So, when the good news comes in your favor, they do the safe thing by acting supportive and giving you fake lip service. Then roll their eyes in disdain once they’re in the clear.
#2 They try to downplay your achievements. The greatest pet peeve of jealous people is when the object of their jealousy continues to achieve success.
When this happens, they want to make themselves feel better by downplaying your success by associating it to things other than your skill. Therefore, it is typical for them to say things such as “She got that promotion because she sucks up to the boss,” or “He got in because he’s connected to the manager.” They refuse to admit that you are in fact better than them.
#3 They flaunt their successes more than its actual merit. While you enjoy your achievements in humble silence, a jealous person tries to make themselves feel better by drowning out your praise by overemphasizing their own little achievements despite that it pales in comparison to yours.
#4 Jealous people deliberately give bad advice. Since they don’t want you adding more to your hall of achievements, they purposely sabotage your attempts by giving you bad advice or just plain discourage you from even trying. Remember, what they want in life is for you to fail.
#5 Jealous people imitate you. Jealous people want what you have. For them, it’s like a game of “who did it better.” Expect that person to imitate you in various ways. If you’re the pretty one who gets all the admiration, they imitate your fashion style and add their little flair to it. If you’re a good photographer, they take up photography and join competitions too.
It would actually seem like a good thing if they compete with you this way, but they are merely trying hard. Most likely, they don’t even like the things they imitate you with.
#6 They are very competitive towards you. As mentioned, it is a jealous person’s nature to outdo you in every way as to steal the glory that they think you don’t deserve. As a result they are very competitive especially if the jealous person is found in the workplace. They will go to lengths to exceed your efforts even if it’s unnecessary just to show off that they’re better.
#7 Jealous people criticize you in every aspect. Have you ever met a person who just spouts criticism at you every chance they get that it seems they look forward to it? It is very likely that the person harbors jealousy towards you.
An average person drops some criticism at some point, but jealous people make a career out of pointing out your mistakes every second of the day and in the most inappropriate of times.
#9 They celebrate your failures. Of course, they will not break into a victory dance when your boss reprimands you for a mistake, but count on it, deep inside they celebrate your failures.
First, they’ll be in an unusually good mood after your failure, and then they’ll have the guts to be friendly and ply you with fake consolation just to savor their perceived “victory” over you.
#10 They are absent during your moments of successes. The last thing a jealous person wants is to be present at a gathering celebrating another person’s success. Not only does it make them uncomfortable, it also heightens their sense of insecurity.
So, expect a jealous person to avoid moments such as this or just be elusive in case you get the chance to ask them to join in.
#11 They talk behind your back. Jealous people are called “snakes in the grass” for a reason. While they are non-confrontational and may even pass off as friendly, they fight their battle against you underhandedly.
One of these is talking behind your back. They may either spread gossip, downplay your achievements like they do, or just talk crap about you behind your back.
#12 They will humiliate you in front of others. Jealous people take every chance they can to downplay your achievements or criticize you. One way that combines both is to humiliate you in front of others.
What do they achieve from this? First, they consolidate their standing as the superior person, and second, they reduce your credibility by doing this in front of others. It’s a win-win situation for them.
#13 They just hate you for no reason at all. Let’s admit it. Jealous people won’t admit that they’re jealous of you because it adds to their insecurity. And for this fact, they hate you at every aspect and show this hate in any way possible. Even if it doesn’t make sense at all.
Jealousy is nothing but a slow poison that corrodes relationships. As such, it should be avoided along with people who harbor this emotion. Its double-faced nature makes it hard to recognize at first so learn how to tell if someone is jealous of you.