Discussion partners can sometimes be antagonistic, ornery, and even nasty. Sometimes this is their character, and sometimes this is their way of forcing their discussion partner to surrender.

They may critize issues under discussion. Their criticism may or may not be justified, but it can often be traced to jealousy.

In such cases, one partner may perceive the other as being more successful, wise, or superior in various ways. He may want to put the partner in his place, in order to raise his own status. Since he cannot affect the partner's success, he hopes that his nastiness will burst the partner's bubble.

If you react to the show of jealousy or nastiness, then you are falling into the trap. The best tactic is to ignore your partner's behavior. He is then likely to be frustrated by his discovery that you are not falling for the bait.

After you have diagnosed the other person's problem as jealousy, take it easy. Don't bother doing anything about it. It will pass, and the other person will then have to deal with the fact that he is Number Two.