It sounds to me like they all feel inferior to you. It's like cats' "mounting behavior", trying to show who's boss.

But was it ever really in dispute? Of course not. They show you that by their words and actions.

Italians call that "burning [the other person's] balls". I mean, they actually have a precise way of telling the other person to stop annoying them in that petty fashion. So you KNOW they make a habit of doing it and feel self-righteous in doing so. Like some weird machismo.