What is Negging? Here are 5 signs to know that your partner is negging you

Has it ever happened to you that someone complimented you in a way you don’t understand what exactly it means? Yes, it is confusing when your date does that. Imagine being on a date with someone you know is trying to manipulate you into feeling bad about yourself but somehow you end up giving justifications. You end up trying to impress them when they are clearly being mean to you. This, my friend, is what they call negging! 

Urban dictionary describes negging as a flirting technique as “low-grade insults to undermine the self-confidence of a woman so she might be more vulnerable to your advances.” It is when a person who finds ways to manipulate you into feeling bad about yourself so that you will want to impress them. They won’t insult you directly, it will be more like clever put-downs making it difficult for you to realise that they are being mean to you. 

Here are some signs to know if your partner is ‘negging’ you. 

1- Whenever they compliment you, it makes you feel more embarrassed than good. For instance, they will never say that you’re gorgeous but add something to it like “Oh, you’re hot for a short person.” It feels more like a backhanded compliment.

2- They stare at you but not in a romantic way. They seem like they are closely examining your every move and will make you uncomfortable in the process. 

3- Their suggestions feel more like constructive criticism. The way you talk, the way you pronounce a word, the way you dress – they seem to have an opinion on everything but in a way, you don’t clearly understand that they are criticising you or praising you. 

4- Despite the fact that you are worth more and definitely better than your date but still weirdly you care what they think of you. That’s because your date made you feel clueless about yourself. 

5- Every time you tell him that he is being rude, he comes up with a way to tell you that he is just teasing you or joking around. The best way to know is if the person sincerely apologises for the mistake and stops criticising you or not. A person who is negging you will do the opposite and continue in his dispositions. 

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