7 Types of Attraction

We often talk about the difference between sexual and romantic attraction, but what about other types of attraction? First of all, what is attraction? It's being attracted to someone or something. It sounds very simple, but it's a little more complex than you might think. Attraction is multifactorial, since several elements can make it arise in a person. It’s a universal experience that prompts us to gravitate towards certain people.

Here are 7 types of attraction:

1. Romantic attraction: Romantic attraction can be defined by the kind(s) or gender(s) of the person(s) towards whom we feel the desire to have an intimate/loving relationship and/or romantic behaviors. This could be manifested by the desire to show affection, to express love, to want to form a couple, to have butterflies in the stomach, etc. 

2. Sexual attraction: To be sexually attracted to someone is to want to make sexual contact with them or to be aroused by them in a way that stimulates that interest. It could happen in this case that you touch the other more than usual when you talk to them, feel the need to be close to them, feel a rise in body temperature, a sudden increase in libido, etc.

3. Sensual attraction: This is the desire to interact with others in an erotic, tactile, non-sexual way, such as hugging, massaging, cuddling, etc. So it's everything related to the body and the senses.

4. Intellectual attraction: This is the desire to engage with another person in an intellectual way, for example by engaging them in conversation, by "picking their brain", and has more to do with what a person thinks or how they think than with the person themselves.

5. Emotional attraction: People who feel emotionally drawn to someone may display admiration for someone’s personality, humor, values, or attitude. The emotional closeness present in their relationship fosters intimacy, which explains why lots of people feel romantic attraction alongside their emotional admiration.

6. Aesthetic attraction: It occurs when a person appreciates the appearance or beauty of another person or persons, without any necessary connection to sexual or romantic attraction. When you feel aesthetically attracted, you may catch yourself looking at a person for an extended period without necessarily wanting to go over and talk to them or form any relationship with them.

7. Platonic attraction: This type of attraction is the reason why you love your friends passionately, but you would not be ready to have a sexual and/or romantic relationship with them. When the desire to befriend someone grows into a genuine friendship, platonic love forms, helping us feel warm and valued.

All of these types of attractions can be felt both separately and collectively. So it is not because I feel a romantic attraction that it necessarily has to be sexual and it is not because I feel like evoking sensual pleasures with someone that I necessarily want it to turn into sexual activity. By analyzing all this, we can therefore understand our desires and impulses more easily. It is also important to emphasize that attraction is not a 'need', but rather a feeling. So it is not because we feel something that we necessarily have to act on it. 

Do you tend to let your feelings control you?

Sources: 

https://lgbtq.unc.edu/resources/exploring-identities/asexuality-attraction-and-romantic-orientation/#:~:text=Sensual%20attraction%3A%20the%20desire%20to,personality%20instead%20of%20their%20physicality. 

https://www.queerty.com/aesthetic-attraction-affect-dating-life-20220226 

https://blog.seduction.ca/5-types-dattirances-qui-ne-sont-pas-sexuelles/