Sternberg's theory of love, infatuation is rooted in passion; you're wildly attracted to the person, you're excited to see them, the sex is great, etc. Meanwhile, romantic love is rooted in both passion and intimacy; you have all the ingredients of infatuation, coupled with friendship, trust, support, etc.
“Usually, infatuation lasts for between 18 months and three years,” says Mundin. “Unless a long-distance relationship is involved or an extremely insecure individual is fascinated, infatuation rarely lasts longer.”
In your brain the dopamine center is rewarded when you see or think about your love interest. Then your brain gets flooded with dopamine. This pleasure response feels so good that it's easy to mistake infatuation with a real connection.
The first stage: Infatuation
This is the phase when everything is perfect when you are happy and feel complete. When you first fall in love with someone, you experience something higher than you ever thought you could. Contrary to what you might think, when you first fall in love, you fall in love with yourself.
Experts say prolonged infatuation eventually turns into limerance, an involuntary obsession with a partner that is usually marked by excessive thoughts, feelings, and a desire to have your those feelings reciprocated. Don't freak out just yet! A healthy dose of infatuation is a normal start to any relationship.
When the infatuation stage of a relationship wears off, that is when real intimacy can begin. Falling in love is a beautiful and important part of the experience but the “honeymoon phase” of a relationship is very euphoric and those intense feelings can cloud how we view our partners.
You can assume a man is deeply in love with a woman once his initial attraction turns into attachment. Physical attraction, sexual compatibility, empathy, and emotional connection are key to making a man fall in love with a woman.
having a strong but unreasonable feeling of love or attraction for someone or something: Susan was infatuated with her friend's brother.
Signs of infatuation
If you are infatuated with someone, you might: See the person you like as being perfect. Want to spend all your time with them. Fall for them super quickly.
For example, you can watch his body language. He's likely to turn his body towards you when in conversation and to make eye contact with you. He may pay attention to you more than others that are around. He's also likely to try spending time with you more than with others when he's falling in love.
A guy who has strong feelings for you will want to know everything about you and will make a genuine effort to get to know you better. He'll also use body language that makes him appear more approachable, like eye contact and having an open, relaxed posture.
Dating gurus on TikTok recommend a new rule to weed out incompatible partners. They call it the three-month rule, where people can evaluate potential partners for 90 days. They recommend not exclusively dating someone — or even kissing them — for these first months.
Empty love is characterized by commitment without intimacy or passion. A stronger love may deteriorate into empty love. In an arranged marriage, the spouses' relationship may begin as empty love and develop into another form, indicating "how empty love need not be the terminal state of a long-term relationship ...
An infatuation lasts anywhere between six months to three years. It could turn into a more serious relationship if it lasts beyond that. But people do realize even after a year that they are infatuated and it is not love. It can last longer if it's a long-distance relationship.
The Oxford English Dictionary as, “an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind” defines obsession. Unlike infatuation in which the infatuated person strives to be more like someone, an obsessed person spends all their time thinking about this one person.
Outside of sexuality, many different things also play into romantic attraction. Personality, how one carries themselves, and facial attractiveness or being physically attractive in general, for example, are all things that people often find attractive.
To build emotional attraction with a man, be an active listener, share personal experiences, and show affection using his love language. A man feels emotionally attracted to someone when he feels understood and loved for his true self, so don't be afraid to be vulnerable—it might encourage him to open up to you.
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.
What Is Limerence? Limerence is a state of infatuation or obsession with another person that involves an all-consuming passion and intrusive thoughts. "It is often a result of not being present either through trauma or certain childhood development issues," explains psychosexual therapist Cate Mackenzie.
Infatuation is the state of being completely lost in the emotion of unreasoning desire. An intense feeling of deep affection. Urgency, intensity, sexual desire, anxiety, high risk choices, reckless abandonment of what was once valued.