14 surprising psychological reasons someone might fall in love with you

But certain factors make it more likely that someone will be smitten with you.

We dug into years of psychological research to find those particular traits and behaviors. And in the process, we busted some myths and learned that certain clichés actually turn out to be true.

It's easy being green – but only if you're seeking something serious.

A 2016 study found that men and women who make eco-friendly purchases are perceived as more desirable for long-term relationships, while those who make luxury purchases are perceived as more physically attractive and more desirable for short-term relationships.

A 2014 study found that men in a speed-dating experiment wanted a woman more when she played hard-to-get by acting disinterested in the men's questions. But these findings only applied in certain situations.

Specifically, the men had to feel "committed" to the woman, which in this study meant that they'd chosen her as their partner, instead of being assigned to her.

It's also worth noting that, even though the men wanted the woman more when she played hard to get, they liked her less. Alas, love is complicated.

Happiness is generally attractive on women — but not so much on men.

In 2011, researchers conducted experiments on more than 1,000 people, showing them photographs of members of the opposite sex and asking them how attractive the people in the photos were.

Results showed that men rated women most attractive when they looked happy and least attractive when they displayed pride. Women, on the other hand, rated men most attractive when they displayed pride and least attractive when they looked happy.

Interestingly, shame was pretty attractive in both men and women.

A little mystery might help you out on the dating front. 2011 research suggests that people like you more when they don't know if you like them.

For the study, some women saw photos of men who had seen their Facebook profiles and really liked them. Other women saw photos of men who had seen their Facebook profiles and rated them average.

A third group of women saw photos of men who had seen their Facebook profiles — but the researchers didn't reveal whether the men had liked them or not. (In reality, the researchers had made up all this information about who liked who.)

Sure enough, women liked the men most when it was unclear whether the men had liked their profiles.

We may all have a "type" — but women are more likely to adhere to it than men are.

In one 2011 study, researchers found that both men and women rated opposite-sex faces more attractive when they closely resembled their current or most recent partners. Men, however, were less attracted to faces that looked similar to their current partner than women were.

If you use a lot of hand gestures

Looking for love? Put yourself out there.

Literally — fill up the physical space around you with hand gestures and an expansive posture. In one 2016 study, researchers observed men and women in speed-dating sessions. Results showed that people were twice as likely to say that they wanted to see their partners again when those partners moved their hands and arms, compared to when their partners sat still.

For the same study, researchers set up profiles for men and women on a GPS-based dating app, showing them in both expansive and contractive postures. Sure enough, people were selected more often when they were pictured in expansive postures.

If youre really, really similar to them

If you share three basic compatibilities

If you stare into each others eyes for two minutes

If you respond to their bids for attention and they do the same for you

Starting — and growing — a relationship seems to largely depend on how people attend to one another.

Over 40 years of studying couples, psychologist John Gottman says it's a matter of "bids." For example, if a bird-loving wife points out to her husband that a goldfinch just flew landed in a nearby tree, he can "turn away" from her by dismissing the remark or "turn toward" her by sharing her enthusiasm.

As Emily Esfahani Smith reported in the Atlantic, the results of the "bids" are staggering: in one of Gottman's studies of marriage, couples who divorced after six years had the "turn toward" reply 33% of the time, and the couples that were still together had the "turn toward" 87% of the time.

If you smell right

If you look like their opposite-sex parent

If you take care of a dog

If you are equally or less good-looking compared to them

In a 1996 study

But this only applies to the really attractive people. For the rest of us, according to the matching hypothesis, we are more likely to love those who are equally as attractive as we are.

This is an update of an article written by for Tech Insider.