What does it mean when a guy rubs your back?

If you have recently noticed a guy rubbing your back then you’re probably wondering why he did it and what it might mean.

This post will try to help you figure out why a guy might have rubbed your back and to help you to make sense of it when it happens in the future.

So, what does it mean when a guy rubs your back? Possible causes of a guy rubbing your back are that he is attracted to you, he is trying to cheer you up, or possibly that he considers you a friend.

Since there are a number of reasons why a guy might rub your back it is important to consider the body language he showed when he did it. It’s also important to consider the context of how he did it.

By doing so you’ll be able to get a better understanding of why he might have done it.

Why a guy might rub your back

Each of the different reasons why a guy might rub your back will likely come with a number of different clues in his body language.

Below, I will mention a number of reasons why a guy might rub your back along with the body language signals to look for.

He finds you attractive

If a guy rubs your back and he doesn’t do it to any other women then it would be likely that he finds you attractive.

If he did it because he finds you to be attractive then it would be likely that he would show multiple other signs of attraction to you in his body language.

These signs can include:

• Having dilated pupils when talking to you
• Standing close to you when talking to you
• Talking to you more than others in the group
• Positioning himself to be near you
• A lack of negative signals such as squinting, crossing the arms or tightening the lips
• Pointing his feet towards you even when not directly in front of you
• Getting anxious when you’re with other men
• Glancing at you often and quickly looking away when you notice
• Speaking with a deeper voice than normal when he is around you
• Adjusting his hair or clothing as soon as he notices you
• Asking friends about you
• Making plans based on yours

He wants to be more than just friends

If he has been your friend for a while and he hasn’t rubbed your back before then it could be the case that he wants to be more than just friends.

If that is why he rubbed your back then he would probably have been showing multiple other signs of attraction when he’s around you that you haven’t picked up on.

If he did rub your back because he wants to be more than just friends then it would be likely that he would also get anxious when you’re around other men, show signs of nervousness around you and that he would typically make plans at times that he knows you’ll be free.

He’s trying to cheer you up

Sometimes a person will rub another person’s back to cheer that person up.

If he rubbed your back when you were showing signs of being upset and you were talking about something that might have made you sad or worried then he might have done it to reassure you.

If he was then it would be likely that he would only have done it when you were sad and he would be less likely to show a number of the signs of attraction mentioned above when around you.

He wants to see how you’ll react

He might have rubbed your back because he finds you attractive but he isn’t sure if you find him attractive so he wanted to see how you’ll react.

If that is why he did it then it would be likely that he would show the signs of attraction already mentioned.

He might also have rubbed your back with somewhat of an observant appearance and he might have looked anxious when he did it because he was unsure about how you would react.

He wants to be more intimate

The reason that he rubbed your back could be because he wants to get more intimate with you.

If that is the case then it would be more likely that you have been dating for a while.

Consider your relationship with him

When trying to figure out why a guy might rub your back it would be helpful to consider what your relationship with him is like.

If he has been your friend for a while and he gets anxious when you’re with other men, gets nervous around you and shows multiple other signs of attraction then it’s likely that he wants to be more than just friends.

If he was a person that you haven’t met before then it could have been the case that he had a more dominant personality or even that he was trying to pick you up. If he was then it would be likely that he would have shown it in other ways in his body language.

If you have been dating him then it could be that he wants to push the relationship to a more intimate stage.

Consider when and where he did it

The timing and location of when he rubbed your back would also likely be a helpful thing to think about.

If he rubbed your back when you were both alone together then it would make it more likely that he wanted to be intimate with you. That is unless you were sad at the time and you were showing it in your body language.

If he did it when you were both in a public environment then it could be that he was showing you that he wants more than just a friendship. However, it could also be the case that he has a dominant personality in which case he would show signs of domination in his body language.

Observe his normal behavior

When trying to figure out why he rubbed your back it would be helpful to think about what his normal behavior looks like around other women.

If you notice that he doesn’t rub other women’s backs and his body language changes around you then it would make more likely that he rubbed your back for one of the reasons mentioned above.

However, if you notice that he does it to other women and his body language doesn’t change around you then it would be more likely that he is either more dominant or flirtatious naturally. You would need to consider the type of body language that he normally shows to figure out which.

Observe body language in groups

When you are considering what his body language might mean it is important to think about it in terms of groups of body language and not draw conclusions from single pieces of body language.

There a usually many reasons that someone might show you a single body language signal. Whereas, having multiple body language signals all pointing to the same thing is often a much more reliable indicator.

Related

What does it mean if a guy rubs your back during a hug? It could be that he finds you attractive. If he does then he would likely show attraction to you with multiple other body language signals. He might also be trying to make you feel comfortable with him or that he wants to be more intimate with you.