“Jealousy is the highest form of flattery.”
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com. To imitate someone is to pay the person a genuine compliment — often an unintended compliment.
The words are scarcely synonymous, however. Envy means discontented longing for someone else's advantages. Jealousy means unpleasant suspicion, or apprehension of rivalship.
Although many people consider “envy” and “jealousy” synonymous, they actually have distinct meanings. Envy is “the painful feeling of wanting what someone else has, like attributes or possessions.” If you're jealous, you feel “threatened, protective, or fearful of losing one's position or situation to someone else.”
The three interrelated components of the jealousy experience are cognitions, emotions, and behaviors.
Research has identified many root causes of extreme jealousy, including low self-esteem, high neuroticism, and feeling possessive of others, particularly romantic partners. Fear of abandonment is also a key motivator.
Jealousy is often rooted in insecurities and fears that a person may not even realize they have. These could include fear of oversimplification, fear of inadequacy, fear of abandonment, fear of being replaced, and fear of being judged.
Trust Issues and Past Trauma – Some people are traumatized by their past relationships. Having someone who cheated on them makes it difficult to trust again, even in a new relationship. When a person lacks trust, seemingly innocuous stimuli can easily trigger jealousy.
Jealousy may be driven by low self-esteem or a poor self-image. If you don't feel attractive and confident, it can be hard to truly believe that your partner loves and values you. Other times, jealousy can be caused by unrealistic expectations about the relationship.
Jealousy, at its core, is a byproduct of fear, fear of not being good enough, fear of loss. When it hits, it can trick us into believing our relationship is in immediate danger, making it impossible to distinguish between natural feelings of protectiveness and irrational suspicion. In other words, it's pretty terrible.
The root causes of jealousy and envy are connected to a person's inability to see what God has provided in their life and a lack of thankfulness. James 3:16 states, “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.”
Jealousy and envy both involve a feeling of desire for what another person has, but jealousy is usually thought to be more negative—it often involves resentment toward the other person. Envy is also a negative feeling—like a mix of admiration and discontent—but the word doesn't usually imply hostility.
Envy is often rooted in low self-esteem – sometimes from very early unmet childhood needs where the person feels inherently not good enough. An envious person may frequently 'compare and despair' and find themselves wanting.
Imitation Is the Lowest Form of Flattery.
Flattery is a type of manipulation. Under-confident people often use it to feel more powerful and to win approval. Passive-aggressive people use it to get their own way. It's widely used by people who want to get into the good books of others, or to help them achieve their own goals.
Interestingly, the greater your self-esteem, the more susceptible you are to flattery. This is because people who think highly of themselves tend to view flattery not so much as outright fawning but as perceptive observation.
Delusional jealousy is a psychotic disorder and should be treated mainly with antipsychotics, while obsessive jealousy resembles obsessive-compulsive disorder and should be treated with SSRIs and cognitive-behavioural therapy.
Feeling jealous is a signal that someone else might be putting a relationship you have and rely on at risk — and you may need to do something about it to either save that relationship or find what you're getting out of that relationship somewhere else. “Jealousy is hard-wired in all of us,” Jalal says.
Summary: Jealousy increases activity in the cingulate cortex and lateral septum, areas of the brain associated with social pain and pair bonding, researchers report.
Research has shown that jealousy can be a sign of feeling deeply in love with a partner. It may contribute to relationship satisfaction by signaling emotional commitment and investment. It may contribute to relationship stability by prompting partners to further nurture their bond and actively protect their union.
review that there are many reasons for why someone tries to induce jealousy, including someone just wanting to be taken out more by a mate, testing the relationship, doing it just for fun, to get rewards (like gifts), and wanting to gain self-confidence or a feeling of power.
Jealousy summons a whole host of negative emotions in its wake. It hijacks your thoughts and carries them into dangerous places. It is as though a demon (Shakespeare's “monster”) has perched on your shoulders and is guiding you deeper and deeper into hell.
When faced with the desire to get a mate's attention, jealousy induction might be quite effective, but it is risky. It can hurt the one you love and even cause the end of the relationship.