If you have recently noticed that a guy touched the back of your neck you’re probably wondering why he did it and what it means.
This post will help you figure out why he
So, what does it mean when a guy touches the back of your neck? Possible causes of a guy touching the back of your neck are that he is attracted to you, trying to reassure you, mirroring you or he might be being dominant.
Since there are a number of reasons why a guy will touch the back of your neck it is important to consider the context of how he did it and the body language that he shows around you.
By doing so you’ll be able to get a better understanding of the motivations that he had behind
Why a guy will touch your neck
Each of the different reasons why a guy will touch the back of your neck will likely come with a number of clues in his body language.
Below, I will show you a number of reasons why a guy will touch the back of your neck and the body language signals to look for.
He is attracted to you
If it is just you that he does it with and his behavior and body language changes when he notices you it would be likely that he did it due to being attracted to you.
If he is attracted to you then it would be likely that he would show it in a number of ways in his behavior and body language.
These ways can include:
- Standing close to you when talking to you
- Blinking more frequently than normal
- Touching you more than his other friends
- Talking to you more than his other friends
- Holding eye contact with you for longer than normal
- Having dilated pupils when talking to you
- Adjusting his hair or clothing when he first notices you
- Positioning himself to be near you when in a group
- Showing signs of being nervous around you such as rubbing the face, eyes, neck, arms or upper legs, foot or finger tapping or fidgeting
- Pointing his feet at you even when he isn’t directly facing you
- Talking with a deeper voice than normal
- Asking your friends about you
- Making plans when he knows you’ll be free
- Getting anxious when you’re with other men
- Glancing at you and quickly looking away when you notice
- Getting defensive when other men are around
He wants to be more than friends
If he has been your friend for a long time and he hasn’t touched the back of your neck before then it could be the case that he is looking for more than just a friendship.
If he is looking for more than just a friendship then he would likely have been showing a number of the signals of attraction mentioned above for a while but you haven’t picked up on them.
It would be especially likely that he would show signs of anxiousness when you’re with other men, that he would get defensive when other men are around and that he would make plans based on your schedule.
Since he hasn’t overtly told you that he wants more than a relationship then it would also make it likely that he would show signs of nervousness when around you.
He wants to see how you’ll react
It might also be the case that he touched the back of your neck because he wanted to see how you would react since he has a crush on you but he doesn’t know if you have one on him.
If that is why he touched the back of your neck then it would be likely that he would show numerous signs of being attracted to you in his body language.
It would also be likely that he would have become a bit nervous when he touched the back of your neck because he was unsure of how you would react.
He’s being dominant
A guy will often touch the people around him when he is trying to be the dominant person in a group.
This could be the reason that he touched the back of your neck.
Dominance from a guy can also, sometimes, be a sign of attraction. If he is attracted to you then it would be likely that he would show signs of attraction in his body language.
If he was being dominant then it would be likely that he would show other signs of dominance in his behavior and body language.
These signs can include:
- Staring
- Talking over people
- Talking loudly
- Interrupting people
- Touching the people around him
- Squinting
- Tightening the lips
- Tightening the jaw
- Tightening the eyebrows
- Taking up lots of space
- Firm handshakes
- Putting his hands and feet on things that aren’t his
- Positioning himself to be at the center of things
He’s mirroring you
When a guy is trying to fit in with a certain group of people he will often mirror their body language.
If you have touched the back of his neck in the past and you hang out with the same people then it could be the case that he did it due to mirroring you.
Mirroring can also be a sign of attraction in which case he would likely show that he is attracted to you in his body language in other ways as well.
If he was mirroring you it would be likely that he would mirror you in other ways as well.
These ways can include:
- Mirroring your facial gestures
- Mirroring your smile
- Mirroring your hand gestures
- Standing and sitting with a similar stance as you
- Talking at a similar pitch and speed as you
- Walking in a similar way and speed as you
- Touching you back when you touch him
Consider when and where he touched the back of your neck
The location and the timing of when he touched the back of your neck would likely be a useful thing to consider.
If he touched the back of your neck when you were both alone together and his body language changed slightly at the time then it would make it likely that he was doing it due to being attracted to you.
Whereas, if he did it in a public setting with people watching then it would have been more likely that he did it due to being dominant.
Consider his normal body language and behavior
When trying to figure out why he touched the back of your neck it would be helpful to think about what his normal body language and behavior looks like around others.
If he tends to touch other women on the back of the neck and his body language doesn’t change much around you then it would make it more likely that he has a dominating personality.
Whereas if his body language changes around you and he doesn’t touch other women behind the neck then it would be more likely that he did it due to being attracted to you.
Think about the type of relationship you have with him
If you have been dating him for a while and he suddenly touched the back of your neck then it would make it more likely that he wants to move the relationship to a more intimate stage.
If he has been your friend for a while then it would be more likely that he wants to be more than just a friend.
If he was a guy that you haven’t met before then it would be more likely that he either has a dominating personality, that he was attracted to you or both.
Think about groups of body language
When trying to make sense of body language signals that he was showing when he touched your neck it is important not to make conclusions based on single body language signals.
There are often multiple reasons that a guy might show single body language signals. However, when he has multiple body language signals that all point towards the same thing it would be much more likely that he was showing them for a specific reason.
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.
