To find out, we asked relationship experts what love means to begin with, plus common signs that typically indicate someone is in love with you. Here’s what they had to say. It’s also important to remember there are many different types of love. As clinical psychologist Kristina Hallett, Ph.D., previously explained to mbg, research has defined two major types of interpersonal love: passionate love (which is what we think of as romantic love, involving attraction and sexual desire) and attachment (also known as compassionate love, which can be between caregivers and children, long-term romantic partners, and other deeply bonded pairs). The Greeks, however, specified the different types of love even further, identifying eight, which are as follows: She adds it involves a desire to be generous, compassionate, loving, and caring to someone, and it creates a strong feeling of commitment. “When you are truly in love, the well-being and happiness of your partner is important to you,” she notes. And of course, along with the different types of love, romantic love also has stages, with the final being wholehearted love. According to licensed marriage and family therapist Linda Carroll, M.S., LMFT, it takes years to develop wholehearted love—but it does often begin with many of the signs of love we’re about to get into. It’s the combination of hormones, endorphins, and emotional prioritization that occur in the initial stages of a relationship, she explains, but it doesn’t necessarily equate to or lead to wholehearted, long-term love. That’s not to say it can’t, but it’s important to make that distinction between lust and love. All that said, here are 12 signs that indicate a man is in love with you, or at least starting to fall. Spinelli says a man will begin revealing more and more intimate details about himself, or start to show more vulnerability around you emotionally, as he falls in love. And as Spinelli adds, he’ll be genuinely interested in you, and you’ll see that he’s curious about what makes you happy and sad. That’s one example, but you get the gist: He’s ready and willing to show up for you even when it’s not convenient. Or as Spinelli describes it, “He wants to meet you halfway, is willing to make healthy compromises, and he makes an effort to make your life easier.” And if the man in question isn’t doing these things, never forget that you deserve someone who does and further, doesn’t leave you questioning where you stand.
