Who Is More Jealous, The Young or The Old?

Jealousy by age - who is more jealous and at what stage of our development are emotions more jealous and more frequent? Jealousy occurs in both children and adolescents, young people, adults - but at what stage of age is jealousy?

Of course, everything depends on the person, the personality, and the specific situations that each one goes through - there are people prone to jealousy, there are people who are much harder to be affected by this emotion. But let's see how and how a certain age affects us concretely…

Jealousy by age - child:

In childhood, feelings of jealousy are intertwined with envy, and the child experiences a specific form of jealousy - jealousy between siblings, the struggle for attention, and parental affection; romantic jealousy still has to wait! But the rivalry between siblings and the emotions of jealousy coming from the fear that the sibling will steal all the affection of the mother/father lead to intense feelings of the child and often to exaggerated behaviors of protest, of demanding attention.

In early and late childhood, jealousy of jealousy will arise when other children are favored (for example, in the classroom) or when other children have things that the child does not have - almost any child wants to have everything your colleague/friend has…

In children, jealousy is an intense emotion, difficult to control, and behavioral reactions are just as intense, this being a stage in which the person has not acquired emotional self-control and balance; the child is by nature self-centered - he wants to be the center of attention and his desire seems to be the most important!

Jealousy by age categories - adolescent (13–20 years):

Adolescence is an age of intense emotions and emotional crises; it is a period of transition, a period of great changes, and implicitly a period of deep and diverse experiences. Sadness, anger, joy, fears, hopes - an amalgam of confused emotions are formed that make the teenager a difficult young person…

It is the period of the first romantic love and the first conscious sexual desires; to this being added so many changes and especially the reality that first love is almost always an unhappy one, the teenager will experience intense moments of jealousy - any emotion he experiences intensely! Just as he will love you with passion, he will be jealous with passion - there is no middle ground!

And the first love, so often shared, is the moment when the teenager learns what jealousy, sadness, romantic disappointment is. The first love, followed so often by the second, the third… Even when his love is shared, the adolescent relationships end quite quickly and often, precisely because of the emotional intensity, ugly: a life lesson for the young…

Jealousy by age categories - young (20–35 years):

Once he escapes the tumultuous period of adolescence, the young man often becomes calmer, more balanced - sure, although he does not realize this, he still has much to live and learn. The stage of youth is the one in which most people have their first long-term relationships, the first "serious" couple relationships.

And jealousy is inevitable, especially at the beginning of the relationship and at the end! Because sometimes relationships end and with the premonition of the end come feelings of insecurity, fear, frustration that lead to jealousy… As for the beginning of relationships - who is not jealous, who does not love with the ardor and naivety of youth, who does not He wants his loved one only for himself and who does not dream of love, fidelity, eternal union?…

And when dreams are threatened by reality, jealousy also appears… rational and jealousy will be less intense, without the passionate adolescent crises… This does not mean that emotions are less deep - adolescence comes with an intensity of reactions, but a dose of superficiality in feelings (the teenager forgets so easily!), youth comes with control of reactions, but more authentic feelings…

Jealousy by age category - adult (35–65 years):

In adulthood, jealousy also becomes much more "mature": the person has reached the stage where he has gone through the essential changes, in which life begins to settle down and follow a certain routine. This stage is also called middle age - emotionally speaking, the expression is perfect: extremes disappear!

Many already have a stable relationship, many are already forming families. Adulthood is an age of stability and balance. Love, no matter how deep and authentic, become calmer, passions more controlled. Jealousy is often felt only as a feeling of fear of losing what the person has. Excessively jealous adults are those who have failed to achieve balance and stability in their lives (as a couple and in other areas), people who are dissatisfied with what they have and what they are, people who live in insecurity and emotional insecurity. practice).

But the person who has found his way in life and got what he was looking for, who is in a stable and loving couple relationship, is not jealous until he is threatened… In addition, with the development of the person and his passage through during adulthood, passionate love becomes a calm love, a quiet and stable affection - which does not mean that it would not be deep!

Jealousy by age categories - the third age:

It is often said that old age is a second childhood: in terms of emotions of jealousy, this is not the case! People who stayed together until the third age gained true wisdom, but also mutual knowledge, intimacy, and mutual trust, they formed a relationship in which jealousy is useless!

The elderly person who stayed with his partner no longer knows what jealousy is - he doesn't have time for negative emotions and childish emotional reactions! It is the age at which the person wants to live his life, managing to enjoy every moment with the wisdom and knowledge acquired so long…

Conclusion? Jealousy decreases as the person grows; it reaches a peak of intensity in the emotional age of adolescence, then once life follows its course and the person finds his place in the world, the emotion has less and less power over him; a satisfied person, satisfied with himself and his life will be less and less jealous!

This does not mean that love also decreases - but that it is a normal transformation, which means the acquisition of emotional balance that successfully removes negative emotions…