If a guy recently put his head on your shoulder you’re probably wondering why he did it and what it might mean.
This post will help you figure out why he might have put his head on your shoulder and help you to figure out its meaning as it happens in the future.
So, what does it mean if a guy rests his head on your shoulder? It could be a sign that he is attracted to you especially if he only does it with you, he does it on more than one occasion and if he shows other signs of attraction. It could also be that he is feeling sad or bored.
Since there are a number of reasons why he might have put his head on your shoulder it would be helpful to consider the context of how he did it and the body language that he showed.
Reasons why a guy will put his head on your shoulder
There are a number of reasons why a guy will put his head on your shoulder and each of them will likely come with a number of clues in his body language.
Below, I will mention a number of reasons why a guy will rest his head on your shoulder along with the body language signals to look for.
He’s attracted to you
If he only does it to you and you notice that his body language is different around you it would be likely that he is attracted to you.
If he is attracted to you then it would be likely that he would show it in his body language in other ways.
Examples could include:
- Having dilated pupils when talking to you
- Standing close to you when talking to you
- Asking you more questions than your other friends
- Mirroring your body language
- Holding prolonged eye contact with you
- Pointing his feet towards you
- Finding excuses to touch you
- Getting anxious when you’re with other men
- Showing signs of being nervous around you
- Looking at your lips
- Speaking with a deeper voice than normal
- Blinking more frequently than normal
He wants to be more than just friends
If he has been your friend for a while then it could be the case that he rested his head on your shoulder because he is actually attracted to you.
If he is then it would be likely that he would have been showing other signs of attraction when around you but you haven’t picked up on them.
It would be especially probable that he would get nervous when you’re with other men, adjust his clothing or hair as soon as he notices you and that he would make plans based on your schedule.
He was feeling sad
If he was showing signs of being sad and he was talking to you about something that made him sad then it could be the case that he rested his head on your shoulder because he was sad.
If that was the case then it would be likely that he only did it then and that he doesn’t do it when he is acting in a normal way.
He wanted to see your reaction
It could be the case that he is attracted to you and he wanted to see how you would react to him putting his head on your shoulder.
If that is why he did it then it would be likely that he would have seemed a bit nervous when he did it.
It would also be likely that he would show numerous signs of being attracted to you in his body language when he is around you.
He was mirroring you
When a guy is trying to fit in with the people around him he will often mirror their body language and behavior.
If you have put your head on his shoulder in the past and you hand out with the same people then it could be the case that he was mirroring you.
Mirroring can also be a sign of attraction. If he did do it due to being attracted to you it would be likely that he would show it in other ways in his body language.
If he was mirroring you it would be likely that he would mirror you in other ways as well.
Examples can include:
- Showing the same facial gestures as you
- Smiling
like you do - Standing in a similar way as you
- Walking at a similar speed and like you do
- Talking at a similar speed and pitch as you
Consider your relationship with him
When trying to figure out why he rested his head on your shoulder it would be helpful to consider what type of relationship you have with him.
If you have been friends with him for a while then it could be the case that he rested his head on your shoulder because he is attracted to you. If he is then it would be likely that he would show it in the way he acts around you. It could also have been the case that he was feeling sad.
If it was a guy that you have been dating for a while then it would be a sign that he feels comfortable around you and possibly that he wants to move the relationship further.
Think about how he behaves around others
When trying to understand why he rested his head on your shoulder it would also be helpful to consider how he interacts with other women.
If you notice that he does tend to touch other women and his body language and behavior doesn’t change around you it would make it more likely that he was showing that he feels comfortable around you.
Whereas, if he doesn’t seem to do it with other women and he does change his body language and behavior around you it would be more likely that he did it due to finding you attractive. It might also have been that he was sad which is why it’s important to consider the body language signals that he was showing.
Consider the location that he did it in
If he rested his head on your shoulder in public where other people could see it would make it more likely that he was showing that he feels comfortable around you but it could also have been that he was bored. It could still have been because he finds you attractive. If he does it would be likely that he would have show it in other ways.
If he rested his head on your shoulder when you were alone together it would be much more likely that he did it because he was attracted to you.
Consider multiple signals at a time
When considering the body language signals that he was showing when he put his head on your shoulder it is important to consider multiple body language signals at a time.
When there are multiple body language signals that all point towards the same meaning it makes it much more likely that it’s the reason that he’s showing them.
Whereas, there are often multiple different reasons that a guy will show a single body language signal which makes it difficult to draw conclusions from them reliably.
If you want to learn more about body language, a book I would recommend would be The Definitive Book of Body Language (on Amazon). It shows you how to interpret body language and understand people's true intentions.