What causes Jealousy - Green eyed monsters!

Jealousy is a funny old thing isn't it? It totally blinds people to their own shortcomings and misgivings.

If you are a man or a woman who has a little something about you, then it can on occasion encourage others to turn into green eyed monsters. They start small with snippy little remarks, maybe a bit of behind the shed gossipping, all school ground stuff but adults do it too. It can even escalate into more serious bullying and even violence.

So what makes people jealous and why do they react this way? The obvious answer is insecurity. Perhaps they had a deprived childhood? This is one answer but not the total answer.

If we take this back to a more basic level, a level where all things are broken down into what is required as a matter of survival, then it is actually about competition.

The person experiencing jealousy feels a sense of competition with the other person and so engages them in a game where the competition as they see it commences. They consider they have won the battle if the person they are jealous of retaliates in kind or backs away.

Note any reaction even at opposite ends of the spectrum, ie fight or flight still leaves them with sense of victory. Their intention is to shake the 'perfect' being from their pedestal and force a reaction, hence any reaction is seen as a 'win'.

This is why people who display jealousy a lot, cannot see it for what others looking on see it. In their own minds, they just fought a mighty fight and came out victorious.