What does it mean if a guy puts his arm around you for a picture?

If a guy recently put his arm around you for a picture you’re probably wondering why he did it and what it might mean.

In this post, I will try to help you figure out why he put his arm around you for the picture and try to help you make sense of it if it happens again in the future.

So, what does it mean if a guy puts his arm around you for a picture? Possible causes of a guy putting his arm around you for a picture are that he is attracted to you, he does it naturally or he might be being dominating.

Since there are a number of reasons why a guy might put his arm around you for a picture it would be helpful to consider the other body language signals that he shows around you and the way that he did it.

By doing so you’ll be able to get a better idea of the motivations that he had behind putting his arm around you for the picture.

Why a guy will put his arm around you for a picture

Each of the different reasons why a guy will put his arms around you for a picture will likely come with a number of different body language signals.

Below, I will show you a number of reasons why a guy might do it and the body language signals to look for.

He’s attracted to you

One reason that a guy might put his arm around you for a picture is that he is attracted to you.

If that is why he did it then it would be likely that he would only have done it with you and he probably would have put his arm around your waist area.

If he is attracted to you then it would be likely that he would show it in a number of different ways in his body language and behavior.

These ways can include:

• Having more dilated pupils than normal when he is with you
• Pointing his feet at you even when he’s not directly in front of you
• Touching you more than others in the group
• Talking to you more than others in the group
• Mirroring your body language
• Talking with a deeper voice than normal
• Standing close to you when talking to you
• Positioning himself to be near you when in a group
• Adjusting his clothing or hair when he first notices you
• Blinking frequently
• Rubbing the face, arms, neck or legs (signals that he’s nervous around you)
• Getting anxious when you’re around other men
• Often looking in your direction and then quickly looking away when you notice

He’s being dominating

The reason that he put his arm around you for the picture could be that he was being dominant.

This is because dominating people will often touch a person when they are trying to get that person to submit to them.

If that is why he did it then it would be likely that he would show multiple other signals of dominating body language and behavior when he is with you.

These can include:

• Telling people to do things
• Talking over people
• Positioning himself to be at the center of things
• Talking more loudly
• Staring
• Squinting
• Tight lips
• Tight jaw
• Tightening of the eyebrows

He wants to be more than just friends

If he has been your friend for a while and he hasn’t put his arm around you for pictures before then it could be the case that he wants to be more than just friends with you.

In this instance, the reason that he put his arm around you is that he used it as an excuse to touch you. If it is why he did it then it would be likely that he would find excuses to touch you at other times as well.

If it is why he did it then it would be likely that he has been showing multiple signs of attraction to you in his body language but you haven’t picked up on them.

It would also be especially likely that he would get anxious when you’re around other men, get defensive when other men are around and that he would make plans based on your schedule.

Since he hasn’t directly told you that he finds you attractive yet it would also be more likely that he would show signs of being nervous around you.

It’s something that he normally does naturally

It’s not an unusual thing for a guy to put his arm around a woman when they are taking a picture together even when they’re not dating.

If he does it with other women and he doesn’t show body language signals of domination or attraction when he is with you then it could be the case that it’s a normal thing for him to do.

He wanted to see how you’ll react

He might have done it because he has a crush on you but he is unsure of whether or not you have one on him so he did it to see if you would react favorably.

If that is why he did it then, again, he would likely show multiple signs of attraction in his body language.

It would be especially likely that he would look in your direction often since he wants to see if you are showing any positive signals towards him.

Consider how he did it

When trying to understand why he put his arm around you for the picture it would be helpful to consider the way in which he did it.

If he put his arm around your waist it would make it more likely that he did it due to either being attracted to you or that he was being dominant. However, he still might have done it since it’s what he thinks is normal which is why it’s important to consider the type of body language signals that he was showing.

Think about your relationship with him

The type of relationship that you have with him would also likely be a useful thing to think about.

If you have been dating for a while then it could be the case that he thinks that you are a couple now. If that is why he did it then he would likely be doing other things that you would expect from a boyfriend.

If he has been your friend for a while then it could have been the case that he just wanted an excuse to touch you. Again, it would be necessary for you to see multiple other body language signals of attraction to draw that conclusion.

If it was someone like your boss then it would be more likely that he was being dominant. But, it could be the case that he thinks that it’s a normal thing to do or even that he’s attracted to you.

Consider what his body language is like around others

When trying to figure out what a guy’s body language might be suggesting it would be helpful to know what his body language looks like around others.

If he tends to put his arm around other women’s shoulders and his body language doesn’t change much when he notices you then it would be more likely that he considers it a normal thing to do.

Whereas, if he doesn’t seem to do it much with other women and his body language does change when he notices you then it would be a lot more likely that he did it due to having a crush on you.

Think about it in terms of groups of body language signals

Single body language signs can often have multiple different meanings. This means that it would be unreliable to draw a conclusion on why a person did something based on one body language signal.

Whereas, when a person shows multiple body language signals that all point towards the same meaning then it would be much more reliable to draw a conclusion from them.