Being in a happy relationship can be difficult. People often experience a number of problems that can jeopardize their relationship.
If you’re in a relationship with a guy who has been purposely trying to make you jealous, you might wonder how you should react when he does so.
Not everyone will respond to this situation in the same way, but here is an overview of how you should react if he’s trying to make you feel jealous, plus a number of helpful tips for you if you’re in this predicament.
If he is trying to make you jealous, don’t allow his behavior to get to you.
Despite the fact that you may very well feel jealous, depending on what exactly your boyfriend does to provoke this reaction, you should keep your feelings neutral.
This will hopefully stop him from engaging in such behavior in the future if he sees that you’re not going to become jealous, but it could also worsen the underlying issue.
If your boyfriend is trying to make you jealous, you will naturally be curious and wonder why.
Your boyfriend trying to make you jealous is not healthy and the two of you need to get to the root cause of the problem.
Here are five additional things you should do if your boyfriend is trying to make you jealous.
1. Don’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction
A guy who intentionally tries to make his girlfriend jealous is obviously trying to either get attention or get a reaction out of her.
This isn’t healthy and is not an effective way to solve any problems.
Therefore, you should refrain from giving him the satisfaction of seeing you explode into a jealous rage like he desires.
For instance, if he tells you that his ex-girlfriend texted him and wants to get back together, you could try ignoring him and pretending you didn’t hear him.
Change the subject to something totally different to try to distract him from his ploy.
He’s likely to ask you if you heard what he said, and if he does, you can say yes but proceed to change the subject again.
You must face the fact that this will make him angry because he will expect a different reaction, and if he does become angry, then you will have to handle him however you see fit.
If your boyfriend has a history of trying to make you jealous, then you can explain that he’s always trying to make you jealous and that you’re not going to react to it any longer.
Tell him that his behavior is immature and that you don’t have time for games.
If he’s still angry, then you may need to give him some space while he calms down, while you figure out what you want to do next.
2. Why not have a serious heart-to-heart with him?
Regardless of the specific tactic your boyfriend uses, if he is intentionally trying to make you jealous then he has some underlying issues that you two need to resolve.
You can’t have a healthy, happy relationship if he’s engaging in childish games.
At a time when he isn’t trying to make you jealous, you need to sit him down and ask him why he’s behaving in such a manner.
Is he feeling insecure, as if you don’t love him? Is something else going on? Did you do something unintentionally to make him feel insecure?
Only getting to the root of the problem is going to resolve the issue and if he refuses to admit there is a problem and he continues to try different ways to make you jealous, then you may need to give him an ultimatum.
How would he feel if you tried to make him jealous on purpose? There is a very big possibility that he wouldn’t appreciate it at all.
3. Call his bluff
If your boyfriend is constantly doing things to try to make you jealous, why don’t you call his bluff?
For instance, if he tells you that an ex wants him back, you should ask him why he doesn’t go and reconcile with the ex.
He might be so shocked that he won’t have a response right away. When he does respond, he might question your love for him.
You can assure him that you do love him (if you do) but that you’re tired of his games.
If he continues to play such games, perhaps he would be better off with an ex, and, hopefully, one of them will really want him back so she can take him off your hands.
4. Be honest with him
If you don’t want to pretend like you’re not jealous and you also don’t want to participate in his games, you might want to honestly tell your boyfriend how you feel when he tries to make you jealous.
If you actually feel jealous when he makes certain attempts, then tell him. If you’re confused and frustrated with his behavior, then you need to tell him that you feel that way as well.
Only your complete honesty is going to encourage him to be honest, so hopefully, he can stop creating ways to make you jealous.
In addition, you should be sure to remind him that doing things to try to make each other jealous is childish and something that you don’t want to be part of.
Ask him how he would feel if you purposefully tried to make him feel jealous, then explain that he should treat you how he wants to be treated.
5. Reassure him
Guys are delicate, and you never know what traumatic relationships your guy may have been involved in before he was with you.
He could have been cheated on, verbally abused, or sustained any number of other types of abuse.
This could be the reason why he’s intentionally trying to make you feel jealous – he needs reassurance that you love him enough not to cheat on him.
If you’re aware that he’s either had a traumatic childhood or a traumatic former relationship, then reassure your guy.
Tell him that you love him very much and that you don’t plan on going anywhere.
Tell him that he doesn’t have to do things to make you jealous because you want him and only him and that you’re not going to participate in his silly games.
However, if your reassurance doesn’t stop his behavior, if you really love him, you may have to suggest therapy.
Offer to go with him if he desires. But if he doesn’t go and his behavior doesn’t change, you may have to break up with him – you simply can’t be happy in a relationship where a guy is constantly trying to make you feel jealous for whatever reason.
If he refuses to accept that he needs help, then that’s his problem and you don’t need to make yourself miserable by making it your problem as well.
If your boyfriend is doing things to intentionally make you jealous, then there is obviously a reason for this.
You need to carefully evaluate the situation before proceeding. If it was a one-time, isolated event, then you could probably get past the incident.
However, if he’s playing immature games on a regular basis in an attempt to make you jealous, then you two have a problem that will interfere with your relationship if it’s left unresolved.
It’s not normal to try to make a significant other jealous on purpose, so hopefully, you and your guy can work out the problem and he can stop engaging in this behavior.
If not, then you need to know when to move on and find a guy who is going to treat you like you deserve.
