by Eharmony Editorial Team - July 28, 2021. Emotional attraction is when you're attracted to someone's mind and soul – you spend time together, you've long conversations, you've shared values and beliefs, and you feel they “get you”.
Emotional attraction involves not just your partner's body, but also to their hearts, minds, and dreams. It means valuing them for who they are and what they stand for.
He not only likes to spend time with you, but he likes spending a lot of time with you. "Does he like me?" Yes, this is one of the most obvious signs a man is attracted to you. He'll use his free time, which is usually reserved for relaxation and hanging out with his friends or family, for you.
Emotional attraction definition is when you feel connected to someone's mind, personality, and spirit. You look at the other aspects of an individual and are appreciative of it rather than just their physical features. When you are emotionally attracted to someone, you seek a meaningful, secure, and long-lasting bond.
They show empathy — in good times and bad
“Someone in love will care about your feelings and your well-being,” Dr. Flores said. “If he or she is able to show empathy or is upset when you are, not only do they have your back, but they also probably have strong feelings for you.”
Romantic chemistry focuses on characteristics present between two people, including mutual interests, similarity, and intimacy. According to Kelly Campbell, P.h.D., the more present these characteristics are, the more likely two individuals will perceive chemistry between each other.
Contrary to prevailing gender tropes, many men crave deeper emotional connection, work hard for it and don't always receive it in return.
Physical attraction, sexual compatibility, empathy, and emotional connection are key to making a man fall in love with a woman.
In plain language: Men often feel most loved by the women in their lives when their partners hug them, kiss them, smile at them, and explicitly offer gratitude, praise, and words of affection. Men also feel loved and connected through sexuality, often to a greater degree than women do.
When someone is attracted to you, they'll subconsciously adopt some of your mannerisms and behaviors. To create a bond or feel more aligned with you, your love interest might hold their coffee cup like you, use the same phrases you do, or even mimic your stance.
Attraction causes a boost in the chemicals oxytocin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. This surge of chemicals can make you feel euphoric and cause physical reactions like making your heart race faster. You get a little sweaty.
High levels of dopamine and a related hormone, norepinephrine, are released during attraction. These chemicals make us giddy, energetic, and euphoric, even leading to decreased appetite and insomnia – which means you actually can be so “in love” that you can't eat and can't sleep.
Men are telling us that they want more emotional intimacy in their romantic relationships. This jibes with the research on attachment. In graduate school, I had the opportunity to participate in the famous Still Face experiment with Ed Tronick, the psychologist who developed it in the 1970s.
Maintaining close physical contact
If a man wants to show that he loves you, he will always want to stay close to you. However, when it comes to how do guys express their feelings, you will notice that they maintain physical proximity with you. He might hold your hand, hug you or wrap his arm around you.
Physical intimacy is about touch and closeness between bodies. In a romantic relationship, it might include holding hands, cuddling, kissing, and sex. Your relationship doesn't have to be sexual or romantic to have physical intimacy. A warm, tight hug is an example of physical intimacy with a friend.
"Mutual office flirting means it is shared — both ways, like the cha-cha-cha dance, where it goes back and forth and creates a continuous dialogue," she explains.
An emotional connection is a feeling of alignment and intimacy between two people that goes beyond just physical attraction, having fun together, surface-level conversations, or even intellectual similarities. Instead, it feels like you're connecting on a deeper soul level—and feel secure connecting that deeply.
Hormones and Neurotransmitters
Attraction is also partly determined by our sense of smell, and what is referred to as pheromones. Higher levels of oxytocin and dopamine may also increase the level of attraction. So, as you can see, there are many factors affecting whether we feel attracted to someone or not.
Intense chemistry is never one-sided
Just as when you immediately like someone and they like you back, in a class, as a friend — chemistry works the same way. It is guided by neurochemicals in our brain that evolutionarily helps us select the best mating partner and partners for survival.