Human beings usually relate to other individuals by nature and survival instinct. We are social animals and we establish bonds of both love and friendship to avoid feeling alone and reinforce our self-confidence. However, we may come across false and hypocritical people whose objective is to relate to us for pure interest. Although it pains us to admit it, these types of people exist and it is possible that, today, they are close to us. To prevent them from harming us, we must identify their behavioral patterns and get rid of these types of relationships.
In this Psychology-Online article we will talk about the fake friends and how to recognize them. Learning to distinguish between an enriching friendship and a friendship based on interest can help us choose well with whom we share our time and well-being.
Fake people according to psychology
We talk a lot about false people, hypocrites and toxic friendships, this vocabulary is very present in our daily lives, however, What is a fake person like according to psychology? Is there a specific pattern to distinguish a toxic personality?
There are no studies that separate this type of people into clear categories; someone can be very sincere in some area of their life and then turn out to be a false person in other aspects. Falsehood is a very volatile thing, However, it is usually related to an insecure personality and someone who does not dare to show their face may put on a mask to show themselves to others.
In reference to hypocrisy, we can distinguish people from weak morality or double standards. These types of individuals either use beliefs that are not theirs to form an identity (weak morality) or they have a range of ideas that change the opinions of the people around them (double morality). Hypocrisy has many faces and it is very important to learn to identify them.
Characteristics of a fake person
1. You build links too quickly:
You meet a person and suddenly they want to go with you everywhere, you don’t know why but they want to know everything about you, they even take an interest in your weaknesses. Careful! Fake people try to get others to open up as much as possible in order to detect and thus know how to handle ourselves. Such early bonds are usually a sign of a false friendship and out of mere interest.
2. He is always smiling
Fake and interested people are always smiling. This is because they seek to please others and use non-verbal expression as an adaptive strategy. However, since it is not a genuine emotion, we can identify a forced and insincere smile.
3. They are passive-aggressive
This characteristic can be very harmful to us, a false person will never put on the table what bothers him and what doesn’t. Therefore, he will always try to make us feel bad but without resorting to a real confrontation. The lack of self-confidence is reflected in this inability to face the truth and look for strategies to make others feel insecure too.
4. Use backhanded compliments
“You look so pretty in this photo, it doesn’t look like you.” either “How good does this dress look on you, one size larger and it would be ideal“
These types of compliments are typical of false people, their purpose is not to make us feel good but quite the opposite. However, they mask their offenses under a backhanded compliment to avoid raising suspicion.
How to know if a person is fake to you
Once we have seen the main characteristics of a hypocritical person, it is time to ask ourselves if in our closest circle we have someone who meets them.
How to recognize fake friends?
It is very easy to recognize a fake friend, the problem lies in wanting to admit that that person is playing with us and our feelings. Whether out of pride or affection for that person, sometimes it is difficult for us to open our eyes to what is really happening in that friendship relationship. After personal disappointment, we may have trouble making new friends and may even wonder internally how to know if we have real friends.
A false friend is one who looks for you only out of interest, He doesn’t count on you for important plans and you can’t lean on him when you really need it. It is only there for the good times and often makes you feel insecure when you are in a group of people.
Once we recognize and admit that we have been next to a false and (probably) manipulative person, the time comes to choose what to do, whether to learn to deal with his or her company or get rid of him or her.
How to deal with a fake friend
If, even knowing that your friendship is not true, we want to keep that person close, it is time to learn to deal with a fake friendTo do this, we recommend the following keys:
- Don’t trust everything I tell you: Fake people also tend to be quite liars, they usually lie about events in their life to boast about something that has not really happened or, on the other hand, they also lie about tastes and hobbies to strengthen personal ties.
- Develop self-confidence: Remember that it is not good to have a false friend for matters of trust, it is possible that they could betray you and these situations are painful, to avoid feeling so much discomfort, it is important to develop our own and thus not depend so much on other people.
- Don’t trust him with deep secrets: Remember that this type of friendship is based on knowing the other person’s weak points and playing with them. If we put our weaknesses and secrets on a plate, they will have a much easier time manipulating us.
- Find activities to do without that person: Leaving the circle of toxicity from time to time is a good strategy to promote our mental health. We can make plans with other people and lean on them instead of completely putting our trust in a fake friend.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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