"You know that feeling when someone's words say one thing, but everything else screams the opposite? I learned this the hard way with a friend who constantly competed with me professionally and personally. She'd congratulate me on a new article with a bright smile, then immediately pivot to how her own work was "more groundbreaking." It took me years to realize that her enthusiasm was paper-thin, and underneath lurked something far less friendly."
"When someone genuinely likes you, they're curious about your life. They want details, context, the whole story. I once had a colleague who would ask how my weekend was, then glaze over the moment I started answering. No "Where did you go?" or "Who were you with?" Just a vacant nod before launching into their own weekend saga. It wasn't until I stopped sharing altogether that I realized they'd never actually cared about my answers."
People can perform social warmth while hiding true feelings, using social rituals without genuine investment. Superficial praise that immediately redirects to self-promotion often masks competitive motives. Genuine interest shows up as follow-up questions, requests for details, and sustained attention; absence of these signs indicates indifference. Nonverbal cues such as body orientation, eye contact, and facial expressions can contradict spoken friendliness and reveal true attitudes. Repeated patterns across interactions make inauthentic warmth identifiable. Recognizing these signals supports setting emotional boundaries and reducing vulnerability to people who perform friendliness without real care.
Read at Silicon Canals
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]