Truly understanding someone can be difficult based on their words alone. Many people manipulate perception by what they choose to say. Yet often, certain behaviors will slip through that reveal the truth. These are the 18 behaviors that can reveal someone’s true personality.
How They Treat Service Workers
A lot can be said about how a person treats service workers. Kind people will treat waiting staff and cashiers with respect, and have patience during busy service times. Disrespectful people will be rude to waiting staff. Many ungracious people lack simple manners with those delivering a service.
Behavior in Group Settings
A person can behave very differently when in a group setting, and it can reveal a lot about them. Someone who dominates conversations may be a very selfish person. According to Psychology Today, they might be trying to lead a group because they consider themselves better than others.
How They React to Stressful Situations
We all handle stress differently, but those who react negatively to stress and lash out at others might not be the best kinds of people. No matter how polite they usually are, how quick they are to place the blame in stressful situations and let anger take over can reveal the truth.
Handling of Conflict
How you handle conflict says a lot about you. Harvard Business Review explains that hearing a different perspective is valuable. Those people who are stubborn in their viewpoint and refuse to hear another person’s opinion during an argument can be close-minded.
Their Response to Feedback or Criticism
If a person refuses to take any constructive feedback on board, it can be a sign of insecurity and a defensive mindset. They may even become hostile if any criticism upsets them, showing an unwillingness to learn and grow. This also reflects a person not willing to take responsibility for their own actions.
Their Treatment of Animals
You don’t have to actively like certain pets or animals to be a good person, as simply respecting animals is enough. What matters is how you treat them. Someone who shows neglect, a lack of empathy or even cruelty towards animals is not a good person.
Treatment of Subordinates or Employees
If a person is in a position of power, such as a manager in a workplace setting, how they treat their employees says all you need to know about them. Forbes highlights that a bad employer will make unreasonable demands and pressure their employees.
How They Handle Secrets
A lot can be said about a person who refuses to share anything someone has told them in confidence. Someone who spills secrets is an untrustworthy person. They may also be willing to gossip to get on people’s good side. If they can’t keep something confidential, they lack respect for boundaries.
How Consistent They Are with Actions and Words
Do they always follow through with what they say they’re going to do? Are they always changing what they say, and how they say it? Someone who is inconsistent in this way is likely an unreliable person. They may also lack integrity and honesty by changing their alignment to suit certain situations.
How They Treat Strangers
How people treat those they don’t know, as opposed to loved ones, can say a lot about them. If they show kindness and manners to strangers in everyday situations, it’s a sign they’re a good person. If they’re rude to strangers, it could be because they believe them to be unworthy of their time.
How They Handle the Privacy of Others
Psych Central explains that if a person has to repeatedly set their own boundaries to a certain individual, it’s a sign that person is constantly overstepping. If you’ve noticed that person persistently being reminded by others what their boundaries are, it’s a sign the person isn’t willing to respect privacy.
How They React to Other People’s Success
Kind and generous people will celebrate other people’s successes with them and express genuine happiness. However, people who are insecure and selfish will likely feel threatened by other people’s success. This envy can then turn them into someone who tries to belittle an achievement to gain the upper hand.
Their Attitude Towards Diversity and Inclusion
A good person should value diversity and always include people from different backgrounds. If someone is usually respectful of all people of their own culture, it can take seeing them handle diversity for the first time to know they actually have a hidden prejudice.
How They Treat Family Members
You can tell a lot about a person based on how they treat loved ones. A supportive family member will take an active role in their family’s lives, offering help and being respectful. Alternatively, a disrespectful person will speak badly of loved ones or show a lazy attitude towards contributing.
Their Response to Authority
Do they respect authority, or do they constantly rebel? Questioning authority when necessary doesn’t mean you’re a bad person if done in the right way. Yet someone who is constantly ignoring rules and badmouthing authority figures can be a problematic person.
How They React When They Fail
Someone who is resilient will not let failure set them back: they will learn from it and grow. But someone who doesn’t handle failure well will likely react angrily, or slip into self-pity. This type of person will not react well to life’s setbacks, and can make for a difficult person.
How Much Empathy They Have for Others
You can usually get the measure of a person based on how much empathy they show towards others. A compassionate person will listen to, and validate, other people’s feelings. Those who lack empathy are often selfish or even narcissistic people who view other people’s problems as inconveniences.
How They Behave When No One is Watching
Naturally, this is a difficult behavior to notice, but you can gain understanding based on what they tell you. If they talk about their healthy routine at home alone or the hobbies or pastimes they do alone, this can provide you with insight into their character and whether they avoid bad habits.