If you have noticed your boyfriend staring at you then you might be wondering why and what it might mean.
This post will help you understand why your boyfriend will stare at you.
So, what does it mean when your boyfriend stares at you?
- He’s feeling attracted to you
- He’s thinking about you
- He has a dominating personality
- He thinks you’re staring at him
- He’s annoyed with you
- He’s jealous
Since there are a number of reasons why your boyfriend might stare at you it is important to consider the context of how he does it and the body language that he shows.
By doing so you’ll be able to get a better idea of why he would stare at you.
Reasons why your boyfriend will stare at you
Each of the different reasons why your boyfriend will stare at you will often come with a number of clues in his body language and behavior.
Below, I will show you a number of reasons why your boyfriend will ignore you and the body language and behavior signs that you can expect to see with them.
He’s feeling attracted to you
If he shows positive body language signs when he stares at you then it would be likely that he does it due to feeling attracted to you.
If he does stare at you because of feeling attracted to you it would be likely that he would show signs of being attracted to you in his body language and behavior in other ways as well.
These signs could include:
- Pointing his feet at you
- Having dilated pupils
- Sitting more upright
- Having uncrossing arms
- Adjusting his hair or clothing
- Positioning himself to be near you
- Laughing and looking to see if you’re also laughing
- A lack of negative signs such as squinting at you, having tight lips while you’re talking or tensing his jaw
- Smiling when you notice him or quickly looking away
- Mirroring your body language
He’s thinking about you
The reason that he stares at you might be because he is thinking about you for some reason.
If that is the case then it would be more likely that he would show his normal body language when doing it unless he is thinking about something that makes him happy or annoyed.
He has a dominating personality
When people are being dominating they will often stare at people for longer than is normal.
The reason that he stared at you could be that he was being dominating. This would be more likely to be the reason if he stared while also talking with a deeper voice, telling you would to do or making a statement at you.
If he was showing positive body language signals when staring at you then it would be more likely that he was gazing at you. This is where someone stares into the eyes of a person that they are attracted to for longer than normal.
If he was being dominating then it would be likely that he would show signs of being dominating in other ways as well.
These signs can include:
- Squinting when looking at people
- Staring at other people as well
- Interrupting people
- Telling people to do things
- Touching people
- Standing in people’s personal space
- Taking up lots of space in his stance
- Having tight lips when people are talking
- Tightening the eyebrows together when looking at people
He thinks you’re staring at him
The reason that he was staring at you could be that he thought that you were staring at him.
If this is the reason then it would be likely that he would have noticed you looking at him as well at some point.
It would also be more likely that he would glance at you instead of stare for a prolonged period.
If he does think that you’re staring at him then he might show signs of being anxious such as:
- Rubbing his face, arms, neck or legs
- Coughing
- Scratching the neck
- Fidgeting
- Wrapping his feet around his chair
- Blinking more frequently
He’s annoyed with you
The reason that he stared at you could be that he was annoyed with you.
If he was then it would be likely that something recently happened that would cause him to be annoyed with you. Perhaps you had an argument, you did something that he didn’t like or he might think you did something that he doesn’t like.
If he does stare at you because he is annoyed with you then it would be likely that he would show signs of being annoyed with you in his body language and behavior.
These signs can include:
- Crossing his arms and legs when he sees you
- Positioning himself not to be near you
- Squinting when looking at you
- Avoiding talking to you
- Giving short answers
- Having tight lips when you’re talking
- Tensing his jaw when looking at you
- Pointing his feet away from you
He’s jealous
The reason that he was staring at you could be that he was jealous of you at that time or that you were causing him to be anxious.
This would be more likely to be the reason if he was staring at you while you were around other men your age.
If that is why he was staring at you then it would be likely that he would also have shown other signs of being anxious as mentioned above and that he would have stuck around while you were with the other men.
Consider how he reacts to seeing you
When trying to get a better understanding of the way that your boyfriend feels about you it would be helpful to consider the way that he reacts to seeing you.
This is because if he noticeably changes his body language and behavior when he sees you then it would be a strong sign that he is feeling particularly positive or negative about you.
If he reacts to seeing you by uncrossing his arms and legs, smiling, raising his eyebrows, mirroring your body language, pointing his feet at you, his pupils dilate and he doesn’t show negative signs such as squinting or tightening the lips then it would be more likely that he was feeling attracted to you.
Whereas, if he reacts to seeing you by squinting, tightening his lips, tensing his jaw, crossing his arms, facing his feet away from you and he tightens his eyebrows then it would be more likely that he stared at you for a negative reason.
Consider multiple aspects of his body language
When considering your boyfriend’s body language it would be helpful to consider a number of different body language signs at the same time.
This is because he might show one sign for a number of different reasons. This makes it difficult to accurately assess his feelings based on one body language sign.
Whereas, if he shows a number of different signs in his body language of the same thing then it would be more reliable that he is showing them for that reason.
Consider his normal behavior
When considering his body language it is also important to consider what his normal body language looks like.
If he has a habit of crossing his arms then it would be less likely that he was annoyed with you if he had his arms crossed when staring at you. If he showed multiple other signs of attraction then it could be that he was actually feeling attracted.
Consider when and where he does it
It would also be helpful to consider the timing and location that he stared at you.
If he stared at you when you were both alone together then it would be more likely that he was doing something known as “gazing” which is where he stares into your eyes due to being attracted to you. This would be more likely if he was showing other signs of attraction as well. Alternatively, he might have been doing it due to being dominating if he was also showing numerous signs of dominating behavior.
Whereas, if he stared at you when you were with other people then it could also be that he was jealous which would be more likely if it was while you were with other men. Alternatively, he might have been doing it for any of the other reasons mentioned above depending on the body language signs that he was showing.
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.