1. Any time they talk, they brag about themselves. If someone else is talking they have a compulsion to bring it back to bragging about themselve
2. Constantly try to one-up another person’s accomplishments or stories.
3. Over the top displays, or almost caricatures, of masculinity. Making an effort to communicate dominance.
4. Being a people pleaser. This gets in the way of living your own life. It can sometimes feel like your life doesn’t belong to you when you are constantly trying to make others happy. People with high self-esteem show caring and compassion for others but do not feel they are responsible for other people’s happiness. And that is absolutely true. You are not responsible for other people’s happiness and you do not need to protect or rescue them from every uncomfortable thing they might experience.
5. If he claims to be an “alpha male” – dude, if you have to tell people (loudly and often) that you’re alpha, you are definitely not.
6.Trying to dominate a conversation or activity for no reason/Being needlessly competitive.
7. When he’s not supportive of the other men in his life. A truly masculine man loves and supports his brothers and celebrates their achievement. An insecure man brings others down to prove he’s on “top”
8. Always fighting to be right no matter what, even if someone obviously knows what they are talking about.
9. When they always seem to have to “prove” something or always have to “let you know” when they’re doing something that conforms with what’s expected of them.
10. Guys who are uncomfortable being CLOSE emotionally or physically around other men in fear of being gay or emasculated.
11. They can’t laugh at themselves like a normal person. If they do something silly, they’re immediately nasty and defensive instead of just laughing it off.
12. They will point out physical flaws in other people and even yourself. Making other people less secure makes them feel better about their insecurities. Got that aunt who points out your weight? Got a “friend” who mentions your acne? Colleague who says back handed compliments? Probably very insecure about themselves.
13. Constantly apologizing for things completely out of their control.
14. When someone isn’t receptive to criticism or feedback. I think that a huge part of being confident in yourself is being able to listen to criticism and not have it destroy you. Basically, immediately becoming defensive anytime someone disagrees/criticizes you is a sign of insecurity in my opinion.