A two-faced person is not easy to spot. For obvious reasons.
They are sweet, nice, pleasant, and friendly to you. But you realize later on that you’ve been played. They are good at back-stabbing you even while smiling at you all the time. This is exactly why we call them two-faced.
Typically, we use the term “two-faced” to describe a person who is insincere, dishonest, and deceitful. It is also used for a person who exhibits polar opposite personalities or approaches to life.
A two-faced person doesn’t give importance to keeping their promises. They can see only the negatives in others and hold negative viewpoints about them. They are ready to say or do anything to achieve their goal as long as this toxic trait doesn’t harm them. If it harms others, they aren’t bothered.
A two-faced person may not intentionally mean any harm to others but doesn’t care enough about others to avoid harming them. If it serves them well, they willingly throw others under the bus without any scruples.
This article explores the characteristics of a two-faced person to see how far they will go with their selfish behavior. Here you will also find ways to deal with the toxic traits of a two-faced person.
Prominent characteristics of a two-faced person
Dissociative identity disorder (DID), commonly known as a split personality or two-faced personality disorder is a mental health issue involving more than one identity in a person. At different points in time, different identities take control over the behavior of the person. Each one of these personalities comes with its own toxic traits, history, and likes/dislikes.
People can exhibit two-faced toxic traits even without being diagnosed with two-faced personality disorder. It’s common to find people who hide their real personalities and pretend to be someone else. The psychology of a two-faced person is as complicated as their toxic traits.
A two-faced person juggles their different personalities so often that it may leave you confused as to who they really are. They gossip, backstab, and are hypocritical.
Two-faced person synonym: Dishonest, deceitful, duplicitous, double-dealing, phony, hypocrite.
Let’s check out the characteristics of a two-faced person.
1. They act overly excited on seeing you
If your internal antenna is active, you will recognize the fakeness and insincerity in their toxic traits right from the time you meet them. They tend to feign happiness and excitement upon seeing you. If there is no particular reason for these toxic traits, listen to your inner voice. Be alert and watchful.
2. They like to sing their own praises
Two-faced people have huge egos and they like to hear their own voices. They talk endlessly about themselves. All conversations with them will soon be bragging sessions. They are show-offs and don’t hesitate to falsify and fabricate stories to suit their narrative.
3. Their body language is negative
If you care to notice, their body language is not in agreement with what they are saying about themselves. In their stories, they are always the hero but in reality, they don’t come anywhere close. You may find this troubling. If you manage to spot this and point this out to them, they will not be pleased for sure. This is when their negative personality comes to the fore and tries to control you.
4. They constantly seek validation
As a two-faced person oscillates between different personalities, mostly of opposite nature, they have trouble feeling comfortable in their own skin. They seek external validation to feel happy and content. They have this unquenchable thirst to be liked by all. They seek approval to confirm this.
5. They are passive aggressive
They have this innate controlling character and it usually comes out as passive-aggressive. They always judge others and sugarcoat insults as compliments. Being two-faced, they are inclined to talk behind your back rather than be straight with you. Back-stabbing is one of the common toxic traits among those suffering from two-faced personality disorder.
6. They don’t feel the need to listen to you
They will ignore your comments and inputs by not pausing to listen to you. Even when they ask you a question, they will continue their monologue, showing no interest in what you are saying. They usually use a dismissive voice, making it clear their annoyance and disapproval. Sometimes they may act inappropriately or be bored in your presence.
7. They are fond of talking about the troubles of others
You often find them harping on the negative events happening around them. If anything bad happens to anyone you know, you are sure to hear it from them. They enjoy talking about the misfortunes of others, but they will present this in such a way that they are feeling sorry for the person/s. Even when they act concerned, they derive joy in recounting the miseries of others.
8. They like to show off their magnanimity
They like to magnify their goodness many times over and make sure that others don’t forget their kindness and generosity. They never let their charitable work go unnoticed. They will repeat it on every occasion and even question your charitable credentials. The worst part is that two-faced people help others only when they gain something from it.
9. They fabricate stories
In their stories, they are always the heroes. They will repeat these self-promoting stories so many times to anyone willing to listen that everyone in their circle knows it by heart. In their defense, it can be said that they are not aware of what they are doing.
10. They are always interrupting you
As part of their inability to listen to others, a two-faced person will constantly interrupt when you talk. Either they aren’t interested in what you are saying and have so many important things to share with you. Or, they interrupt you to question you about something you said or did. To them, you are not interesting enough as a person. Nor are they interested in anything you say.
11. They feel jealous of your accomplishments
In their minds, only they deserve the best and should achieve success. You aren’t competent or good enough to find success. If you indeed find success, they will try their best to minimize it. At the same time, they will feel envious that you found success despite being mediocre.
12. There is always a smile on their face
If you are sensitive enough, you will recognize their plastered-on smiles as fakes easily. A two-faced person feels that they can fool you into believing that they are friendly with their put-on smile. They intend to get close to you and extract your secrets. Armed with damaging information, they will misuse and control you, even while using it to gain the trust of others.
How to deal with two-faced people?
They are nice and friendly and easy to make friends with. If you are in an unfamiliar environment with no friends, it is easy to fall for their charms. If you have two-faced family members, it’s even worse.
The first step in dealing with two-faced people is to recognize them for who they really are. Then you should focus on how they are trying to use you. Because not all two-faced people behave the same way. Once you have this information, you can decide how to handle it.
Avoiding them is always the best choice. But this may not always be possible for you. Instead, learn how to terminate conversations with them. Make efforts to understand their motivations and intentions. Once you know them and their methods well, you would be able to predict their moves.
Setting clear boundaries may help though this is hard to implement. Avoid encouraging them when they badmouth others. You can also call them out and ask them to stop such toxic traits.
You can try to be honest and be yourself and not bother too much about this person. Don’t allow the evil machinations of this person to stop you or affect your life. They will finally feel bored and move on.
No matter what happens, don’t lose your cool. Be level-headed and leave emotions out when dealing with a two-faced person. When you’re emotional, you have a higher chance of making mistakes.
Final thoughts on a two-faced person
One thing is for sure; being two-faced is not good. A two-faced person is not honest. When honesty is absent in a relationship, people are going to get hurt.
Two-faced people need not always be dangerous to you. However, it’s better to identify them and stay away. Avoid building relationships with them as it may lead to disastrous and toxic situations.