Understanding Different Stages of Dating for Men and Women

The process of dating would work much better if there were certain guidelines any man or woman can follow. If you have never had a date or have taken some time to think and sort out your feelings, it’s high time you started thinking outside the box and looked for the best person to share your life with. Some people are lucky to find the right life partner at once, others need to spend much more time and effort because there is something wrong with their approach to dating.

5 Common Stages of Dating

Stage 1. Meeting

Meeting is considered to be the very first dating stage and is quite important in determining the likes and preferences. When you meet someone, you usually feel if there is enough chemistry between you. That’s the way to meet an interesting and funny person who will boost your mood and seem like a “dating material”. Sometimes this stage may take several meetings to determine if the person is right for you, and sometimes several minutes. So if you have come across a perfect guy or lady, this stage might be the beginning of a romantic relationship.

Stage 2. Dating

After meeting and finding out more about each other people usually decide to spend time together and start dating. The second stage is a romantic one and may last from several months to a year. During it partners desire to spend much time together, they are attracted to each other both emotionally and physically and focus on the positive feelings and great time spent together. What’s important, if you and your partner don’t experience the same feelings, it is impossible to move on to the next stage. Be supportive, patient and caring, don’t hurry your partner, and he/she will catch up pretty soon.

Stage 3. Denoting the Differences

That’s the stage when all the differences in character start emerging. It is also considered to be crucial because it’s the time a couple decides whether they are going to continue their relationship or not. At this stage a couple is to focus on the disagreements that appear, the difference of goals, views and the ideas of commitment. A man and a woman start having arguments, however, learn to use problem-solving skills to resolve them. Nevertheless, the third stage of dating provides a couple with an opportunity to build stronger and deeper relationship and learn to trust their other half.

Stage 4. Dependence

This stage assumes that partners can’t live without each other and start incorporating their interests and other social relationships in their love life. Sometimes couples show both independence, when they spend some time away from each other to make the relationship much stronger, and interdependence, when one of the partners feels insecurity while being away from the other. Both can lead to an imminent break-up if the problem is not discussed and solved.

Stage 5. Strong Desire to Make a Family

The last stage is a couple’s desire to get married and create a loving family. After successful completion of the previous stages a couple develops honest, trustful and healthy relationship.

Stages of Dating for Men and Women

The above-mentioned five stages of dating will help you to sort out all the facts about dating and become the best person for your other half to date. But even if the feelings of love are often the same for both men and women, the stages of dating may differ.

If you are willing to know what happens in a man’s mind when he meets a girl and falls in love with her, read on. While a woman usually experiences strong affection as soon as she meets a guy she likes, a man’s feelings work in a different way. Usually men go through the following 5 stages:

1. Instant attraction to a woman. Moreover, men are attracted by physical appearance and check out the girl’s looks and body shape. 2. Crush. Though men may be attracted by dozens of girls every day, they do not have a crush on all of them. That’s where he wants to pursue a girl and flirt with her. 3. Making an impression on the woman. At this stage all he wants is to show off and please the girl with romantic dates and gifts. 4. Reaffirmation. After making a girl fall in love with him a man usually takes a timeout to think about the future of this relationship. He asks himself if this is the woman he wants to be with, if he loves her and needs her. 5. Time for love. When he is convinced and is willing to spend his life with the chosen girl, he enters into the final stage where love and commitment take place.

The stages of dating for a woman differ and are the following:

1. Attraction. A woman sees a man, starts a conversation with him, feels initial attraction and mutual feelings and goes on a date to explore the possibilities. 2. Hesitation. It comes right after the initial stage is passed, when she starts feeling uncertain as to the man wondering if he could make a good partner. 3. Determination. At this stage the woman is sure she has chosen the right guy and is ready to create romantic relationship. 4. Intimacy. That’s where a woman shares her innermost feelings and a man does the same. Moreover, this stage is a perfect time to experience the best in a relationship and get acquainted with other sides of the partner’s personality. 5. Commitment. The woman makes sure she has chosen the right guy and is ready to become a loving wife and a caring mother of his children.