Eyes dilate when they look at you, they seem happier around you than when not, they introduce conversational topics that are about you or them but not other people, open body language (varies slightly by culture) directed towards you in public situations, very open body language in private situations, they laugh at your stupid jokes, they share secrets about themselves, they are enthusiastic about talking about sex, they are prone to affectionate touching (shoulders, chin, and upper arms in particular, at least in the US).
It’s actually very easy to tell when most people have a crush on you, you just have to be paying more attention to them than how you are coming off.
Incidentally, having a crush on somebody (and them knowing about it—they probably will) doesn’t lower their odds of reciprocating, turning that crush into something awkward and needy and negative for them lowers their odds of reciprocating. And yes, abusing yourself by catering to their every whim is awkward and needy. As before, the major key is to be paying more attention to them than how you are coming off. (That’s also the key to sex; don’t try to be “good” at sex, because then you’re paying attention to what you’re doing rather than how your partner is responding. Indeed, it’s the key to social interactions in the general case.)
It sounds like you’re describing how to recognize a successful relationship. At the “OMG I don’t know if s/he likes me” stage, body language is more likely to be tense and stilted, there will be blushing, and stammering, and painful silences, and all the general awkwardness...
By the time of “very open body language in private situations” all the important questions have already been answered.
Those particular symptoms, while obvious from the outside perspective, are pretty much undetectable from the inside perspective, because they’re the result of two people who are paying more attention to how they are coming off than they are to the other person. Embarrassment, nervousness, fear, uncertainty. These dispel themselves with a little bit of awareness; if, for example, the other party embarrasses themselves, and you’re aware of it, it’s very easy to rectify by sharing an embarrassing story of your own—and most people will do this automatically. If you embarrass yourself—well, again, you’re worrying too much about how you come off, and not paying enough attention to how the other person is responding.
Eyes dilate when they look at you, they seem happier around you than when not, they introduce conversational topics that are about you or them but not other people, open body language (varies slightly by culture) directed towards you in public situations, very open body language in private situations, they laugh at your stupid jokes, they share secrets about themselves, they are enthusiastic about talking about sex, they are prone to affectionate touching (shoulders, chin, and upper arms in particular, at least in the US).
It’s actually very easy to tell when most people have a crush on you, you just have to be paying more attention to them than how you are coming off.
Incidentally, having a crush on somebody (and them knowing about it—they probably will) doesn’t lower their odds of reciprocating, turning that crush into something awkward and needy and negative for them lowers their odds of reciprocating. And yes, abusing yourself by catering to their every whim is awkward and needy. As before, the major key is to be paying more attention to them than how you are coming off. (That’s also the key to sex; don’t try to be “good” at sex, because then you’re paying attention to what you’re doing rather than how your partner is responding. Indeed, it’s the key to social interactions in the general case.)
It sounds like you’re describing how to recognize a successful relationship. At the “OMG I don’t know if s/he likes me” stage, body language is more likely to be tense and stilted, there will be blushing, and stammering, and painful silences, and all the general awkwardness...
By the time of “very open body language in private situations” all the important questions have already been answered.
Those particular symptoms, while obvious from the outside perspective, are pretty much undetectable from the inside perspective, because they’re the result of two people who are paying more attention to how they are coming off than they are to the other person. Embarrassment, nervousness, fear, uncertainty. These dispel themselves with a little bit of awareness; if, for example, the other party embarrasses themselves, and you’re aware of it, it’s very easy to rectify by sharing an embarrassing story of your own—and most people will do this automatically. If you embarrass yourself—well, again, you’re worrying too much about how you come off, and not paying enough attention to how the other person is responding.