Not to brag but I'm a pretty confident person in my social circle. I'm funny, make people laugh etc. etc.
Basically, I am adored by everybody.
But there is something that I noticed about myself lately. Regularly people come up to me to chat and sometimes they compliment me. Now, complimenting isn't a bad thing, obviously. But I just don't feel anything when I receive them.
However I enjoy it when people talk good things about me when I'm not present. I, again, don't feel anything when people talk shit about me when I'm not present. BUT I really enjoy it when people straight up come at me and say something bad at me. My mood increases and I spend the rest of my day happier.
Is this some kind of a defense/coping mechanism that I have unintentionally developed? I don't see anything bad about this.
It's also worthy to say that I spent the majority of my life isolated up until a few years ago. No compliments at all but nobody to say bad things either. Is this why I fail to appreciate compliments?
It's possible that it is a self-worth issue and lack of self-love. Overconfidence is a defence mechanism, and not being able to take compliments is a sign that you don't truly, deep down, believe people are being honest about them.
However it can be quite complex and let's say you have trust issues... an example is, let's say you didn't get many real compliments and were bulled in school and every time you wore a ratty shirt or didn't brush your hair, your bully 'complemented' it in front of others. Now you're primed to distrust complements and believe on a subconscious level that they are malicious.
Compliments are often used as a way to manipulate people, so if you've dealt with a manipulator before, now genuine comments may trigger you to have your guard up... not an easy place to be when trying to genuinely accept compliments.