What does it mean when a guy avoids eye contact?

If a guy has been avoiding eye contact with you, you’re probably wondering why and what it might mean.

This post will help you understand why a guy might avoid eye contact with you and help you to figure out why a guy might be doing it as it happens in the future.

So, what does it mean when a guy avoids eye contact? Possible causes of a guy avoiding eye contact are that he is attracted to you but nervous, being submissive, he might have some social anxiety, he might be sad, annoyed with you or trying to avoid talking to you.

Since there are a number of reasons why a guy might avoid eye contact with you it is important to consider the body language signals that he shows around you and the context of how he does it.

By doing so you’ll be able to get a better understanding of the motivations that he has behind avoiding eye contact with you.

Why a guy will avoid eye contact with you

Each of the different reasons why a guy will avoid eye contact with you will likely come with a number of clues in his body language.

Below, I will mention a number of reasons why a guy will avoid eye contact with you and the body language signals to look for.

He has a crush on you

One reason that a guy might avoid eye contact with you is that he is actually attracted to you.

The reason that this might be causing him to avoid eye contact with you could be that he doesn’t want you to know that he is attracted to you. Alternatively, it could be that he is also intimidated by you because he finds you very attractive so he avoids eye contact with you.

If he is attracted to you then you should expect to see a number of body language signals of attraction from him.

These signals could include:

• Having more dilated pupils than usual when he is around you
• Pointing his feet at you even when he is to your side
• Often looking at you then quickly looking away when you notice
• Asking your friends about you
• Positioning himself to be near you when in a group
• Adjusting his clothing when he notices you
• Mirroring your body language
• Laughing and looking at you to see if you are as well
• Changing the way that he behaves as soon as he notices you
• Showing signs of anxiousness when you’re talking to other men
• Blinking more frequently when talking to you

He’s nervous around you

The reason that he avoids eye contact with you could be because you make him feel nervous.

It could be because he is attracted to you. If he is then it would be likely that he would show many of the body language signals of attraction mentioned above.

However, it might also be that you make him feel nervous for a different reason such as thinking that you’ll make fun of him, not liking the people that you hang out with or if he thinks you’ll cause trouble for some reason.

If he does avoid eye contact with you due to being nervous around you then it would be likely that he would show it in his body language by doing things such as:

• Making the body appear small
• Pointing his feet away from you
• Crossing the arms and legs
• Fidgeting
• Having constricted pupils
• Rubbing the face, arms, legs or neck
• Touching the neck
• Tapping the feet and fingers
• Quivering under the eyes or mouth
• Stuttering
• Dryness of the mouth
• Coughing

He’s being submissive

The reason that he avoids eye contact might actually be because he is intimidated by you.

It could be that you hang out with people that he is intimidated by, that he thinks that your mean or that he considers you as being in a higher position than him.

If that is why he avoids eye contact then it would be likely that he would show it in his body language by doing things such as:

• Showing vulnerable areas like the palms and neck
• Looking downwards
• Slouching and making the body look small
• Being quiet around you
• Laughing a lot
• Pointing the feet away from you
• Looking towards the exit
• Distancing himself from you

He’s sad

The reason that he avoids eye contact might actually be that he is feeling sad.

Unless he is feeling sad because of you it would be likely that he would be avoiding eye contact with everyone.

Some other body language signals to expect to see if he is sad is:

• Trembling lip
• A flat vocal tone
• Tears
• Drooping the body
• Being more quiet than usual

He’s mad at you

The reason that he is avoiding eye contact with you might be because he is actually annoyed with you.

If that is why he is avoiding eye contact with you then it would be likely that something would have recently happened that would cause him to avoid eye contact with you.

It could be that you recently had an argument, that you went out with someone that he doesn’t like or someone might possibl have told him something bad about you.

If he is mad at you then you can expect to see things such as:

• Pointing the feet away from you
• Clenching the jaw when looking at you
• Tightening the lips when looking at you
• Squinting when looking at you
• Shouting
• A lack of smiling
• Avoiding you
• Getting annoyed when you touch him
• Crossing the arms and legs when he notices you
• Giving short answers and not furthering any conversation

Consider who else is present

When trying to figure out why a guy might be avoiding eye contact with you it would be helpful to consider the other people that are present when he does it.

If he sometimes makes normal eye contact with you but it stops when a particular person is around it would be a strong indicator that he does it because of that particular person and not because of you.

Consider his normal behavior

If you notice that he doesn’t make eye contact with other people then it would be more likely that he is doing it due to being sad or because he has a shy personality.

If he does do it with other people as well then you should consider when it started. If it started to happen recently then it would be more likely that he is sad or that it is due to a particular person or group of people. Whereas, if he has always done it then it would be more likely that he has a shy personality.

If it only seems to be you that he avoids making eye contact with then it could be that he is attracted to you, nervous around you, submissive around you or that he is mad at you. It would be necessary for you to consider what other body language signs that he shows around you and recent events that have happened to figure out which reason he does it for.

Consider where he does it

If you notice that he only seems to avoid eye contact with you in a certain environment then it could be that something about it is causing him to get anxious.

It might be because it’s an environment where certain people that he doesn’t like tends to be or it might be one that he doesn’t like since he associates it with something he doesn’t like.

Consider when he avoids eye contact

The timing of when he avoids eye contact would also likely be a useful thing to think about.

If he does it when a particular conversation topic is being spoken about then it would be likely that he has some kind of a problem with that topic.

If he does it only on certain days then it might suggest that he has to do something on those days that he is uncomfortable with and the anticipation of it makes him feel nervous.

Look for body language clusters

When you’re trying to figure out why he might be avoiding making eye contact with you it will be important to consider multiple body language signals at a time.

As seen with avoiding eye contact, single body language signals will often have a number of different possible meanings. As a result, drawing conclusions from single body language signals is often unreliable.

Instead, it would be a better option to look for multiple body language signals that all suggest the same meaning so that you can make a more accurate conclusion about how he might be feeling.

Related

Why is he avoiding eye contact all of a sudden? If he used to make eye contact with you but he suddenly stopped then it could be that he doesn’t like someone that you were with, he was mad at you, he was sad or he was feeling anxious about something. It would be necessary for you to consider what his body language looked like and recent events that have happened with him to figure out the exact reason.

Why is he avoiding eye contact while talking? If he tends to avoid eye contact while talking with you then it would suggest that he is either attracted to you, nervous, naturally shy or that he is being submissive to you. It would be necessary to consider the types of body language signals that he shows when he is with you to figure out the exact reason. You will probably find that there are actually a mixture of reasons such as being attracted to you but also nervous because of it.