If a guy recently ran his fingers through your hair you’re probably wondering why he did it.

This post will try to help you figure out why he ran his fingers through your hair and to help you to figure out its meaning as it happens in the future.

So, what does it mean when a guy runs his fingers through your hair? A guy running his fingers through your hair would likely be a sign that he is attracted to you especially if he does it more than once, only with you and he shows other signs of attraction. He might also like the way it looks, do it as a power-play or it could be that he didn’t mean to do it.

Since there are a number of different reasons why a guy will run his fingers through your hair it would be helpful to consider the context of how he did it and the body language signals that he showed.

By doing so you’ll be able to get a better understanding of what caused him to do it.

Reasons why a guy will run his fingers through your hair

Each of the different reasons why a guy will run his fingers through your hair will likely come with a number of clues in his body language.

Below, I will mention a number of reasons why a guy will do it and the body language signals that you should look for.

He’s attracted to you

One reason that a guy will run his fingers through your hair is that he is attracted to you.

This would be especially likely to be the reason if he changes his body language around you and if he only seems to do it with you.

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.

Examples could include:

  • Holding prolonged eye contact with you
  • Asking you more questions that other people in the group
  • Standing close to you when talking to you
  • Pointing his feet towards you even if he is to your side
  • Having dilated pupils when talking to you
  • Touching you more than other people in the group
  • Positioning himself to be near you
  • Blinking more frequently than normal
  • Speaking with a deeper voice than normal
  • Making plans based on your
  • Looking at your lips
  • Mirroring your body language

He’s doing it as a power-play

Sometimes, when a guy is trying to show his higher position in a group, he will touch those around him.

If he ran his fingers through your hair in a location with people watching it could be the case that he did it as a power-play.

If he did then it would be likely that he would show dominating behaviors and body language signs which could include:

  • Taking up lots of space
  • Putting his hands and feet on things that aren’t his
  • Telling people to do things
  • Staring at people when they talk
  • Firm handshakes
  • Having tight lips when people are talking
  • Squinting at people when they are talking
  • Standing in people’s personal space
  • Standing in a way that makes his body appear larger

He likes how it looks

It could be the case that he ran his fingers through your hair because he liked the way that it looks.

If that is the case then it would be likely that he also is attracted to you so you should expect to see signs of attraction in his body language.

He wants to be more than just friends

If he has been your friend for a while and he hasn’t run his fingers through your hair before then it would be likely that he wants to be more than just friends.

If he did run his fingers through your hair for that reason it would be likely that he would show a number of different signs of attraction in his body language around you. However, you might not have picked up on them.

It would be especially likely that he would adjust his clothing when he notices you, get anxious when you’re with other men and make plans based on yours.

He wants to see how you’ll react

It might be the case that he ran his fingers through your hair because he’s unsure of whether or not you find him attractive and he wanted to see how you’d react.

If that is why he did it then he probably would have seemed nervous, observant and he would show signs of attraction when around you.

He’s from a different culture

It might be the case that he is from a culture where it is normal to touch people a lot.

Even if he is from one of these cultures he still might have done it for one of the reasons above so you should consider the way that he did it and the body language that he showed.

Consider your relationship with him

When trying to figure out why he ran his fingers through your hair it would help to consider the type of relationship that you have with him.

If he is a guy that you have been dating then it would be more likely that he ran his fingers through your hair for an attraction related reason. It could also be the case that he did it due to dominating behavior in which case he would likely show a lot of dominating body language.

If he is your friend then it would be likely that he secretly has a crush on you. In this case, you should expect to see that he would show other body language signals of attraction.

Consider the location he did it in

The location that he ran his fingers through your hair at would likely give you a number of clues as to why he did it.

If he did it in a public place with other people watching it would make it more likely that it was a power-play type move.

Whereas, if he did it while you were both alone together it would be likely that he did it for attraction related reasons.

Consider how he interacts with others

When trying to make sense of a guy’s body language it would be helpful to be aware of what his natural body language is like.

If you notice that his body language is different around you and he doesn’t touch other women at all then it would be a lot more likely that he ran his fingers through your hair due to being attracted to you.

Whereas, if you notice that he is very touchy with everyone and his body language doesn’t change around you then it would be more likely that he is naturally more flirtatious or dominating.

Think about groups of body language and what they might mean

As shown above, there are often many reasons that a guy might show a single body language signal. This means that it can be difficult to accurately figure out what a guy might be feeling like based on one body language signal.

Whereas, when a guy shows multiple body language signals all pointing towards the same thing then it would be much more likely that he did it for that reason.

For example, if you notice that he run his fingers through your hair, has dilated pupils with you, gets anxious when you’re with other men, points his fingers at you and he holds prolonged eye contact with you without negative signals it would be likely that he’s attracted to you.

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.

Author

I created and currently manage Body Language Central, one of the premier sources for body language-related knowledge. Body language plays a key role in our daily lives. I hope that my website can help condense the wide amount of body language information available and allow you to make full use of it in your daily life. You can read more about me and my website here.