Jealousy is an important emotion for children and young people to understand. Everyone will experience jealousy at some point in their life; however, how we react to jealousy can have a massive impact on our own wellbeing as well as the wellbeing of people around us.
Educators should understand jealous and how to convey healthy ways to manage jealousy to their students to prevent damaging and inappropriate behaviour.
FAQs
People feel jealousy when they believe their relationship with another person has been threatened by a third person. Jealous is an emotion that typically involves feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over the potential loss or competition for attention and affection.
People get jealous for various reasons, including:
- Insecurity: Low self-esteem or feeling inadequacy can make individuals more prone to jealousy.
- Fear of loss: Concerns about losing someone or something important, such as a partner or friend, can trigger jealousy.
- Comparison: Comparing oneself to others and feeling that others have qualities that make them better friends or partners can lead to jealousy.
- Past experiences: Previous experiences of betrayal or abandonment can make individuals more prone to jealousy.
- Possessiveness: A strong desire to maintain control over a relationship or possession can cause jealousy.
Jealousy can manifest in various harmful ways, including:
- Controlling behaviour: Trying to dominate or restrict a partner’s actions, choices, or interactions.
- Aggression and violence: Physical or verbal abuse directed at the person they are jealous of.
- Obsessive monitoring: Constantly checking on someone’s activities, communications, and whereabouts, leading to stalking or invasion of privacy.
- Emotional manipulation: Using guilt, blame, or other tactics to manipulate someone into changing their behaviour to remove the jealous person’s insecurities.
- Destructive actions: Engaging in harmful behaviours to oneself or others, such as self-harm, substance abuse, or sabotaging relationships.