Why do people behave the way they behave?

It is a difficult question to even start brainstorming about because it requires an analysis of people’s minds which is an unknown and a complex terrain to begin with. I am not a psychoanalyst, so my analysis won’t have any Freudian elements in it, rather it will encapsulate my perceptions based on how I have seen certain people behave consistently over a span of more than ten years now. One might argue that my perceptions / analysis could be one-sided, biased, and hence unfair. But I’m neither pleading for their indictment in a court of law nor are my perceptions false or a figment of imagination. On the contrary, my urge to document my feelings felt urgent because their behavior has repeatedly stung my self-respect and left me angered at my own helplessness to do anything concrete so that it doesn’t recur. Confronting isn’t a solving strategy because it perpetuates animosity cyclically: confrontation will be retaliated by confrontation only. But keeping mum isn’t a solution either. Some people are vitriolically rude and while I have no responsibility to amend their ways of behaving, they too have no responsibility to dump their frustrations and insecurities on me. These people have everything in their lives: money, US citizenship, advanced degrees, and secure jobs. The funny thing is: if they have everything in their possession they had always strived for, why target people who do not want to cater to their egos? They will invite you to their homes but do not expect they will be hospitable, they will, on the contrary, blatantly ignore your existence. They will attack you cruelly if you dare speak with honesty and conviction. They will malign your reputation viciously if you dare point out the mischief and manipulation explicit in their motives. Their pet phrase is: you must not take things personally and you must be thick skinned. The fact is: I am not an idiot which they perhaps thought I was. They wear multiple sleeves on their skin, which they shed and wear depending on the context they are in and the people they are surrounded with. They are educated hooligans – period. Their coterie seems harmless, benign, and benevolent at the surface level, but they can destroy your happiness if you do not have the capacity to resist them. But what actually is the source of their frustrations, I fail to identify. Yes, not catering to their egos could be one reason why; what else? Not wanting to accept defeat from someone they assumed to be unintellectual or uncreative could be another reason; what else? I’m not sure, you see. Could mental instability be an underlying source of their malignant behavior? Possible, but, once again, I’m uncertain. You might wonder how I’m related to them; I’m related to them through the friendship their children and mine enjoy. Sounds bizarre, right? The fact is our kids went to the same dance school for years, so they developed a strong bond over the ensuing years, not us. I guess the only solution that remains is avoiding crossing paths with them. Peace.