According to communication researcher Jeffrey Hall of the University of Kansas, people tend to flirt in one of five styles: playful, physical, sincere, polite and traditional. Most of us use a mix, but one style usually dominates, and it says something about how we show interest, how we read other people's signals and which kinds of relationships we tend to end up in. Hall built the model from a survey of more than 5,000 adults in 2010 and later tested it by filming real conversations in a lab.
The image above is a still from the 2010 teen comedy Easy A, with Emma Stone as Olive, a film about rumours, reputation and how easily signals get misread. Here is what each style looks like, what the studies found, and how to use the idea without turning it into a label.
Why people flirt at all
Flirting is not only about sex or romance. People flirt to signal attraction, of course, and to test whether that interest is returned without the risk of asking outright. But they also flirt to be liked, to smooth a tense moment, to make someone feel noticed, to boost their own confidence, or just because it is fun.
That variety is why flirting is so easy to misread. A teasing remark can be a romantic invitation from one person and simple friendliness from another. Hall's work tries to explain part of that confusion: people differ in how they communicate interest, so the same behaviour can mean very different things.
Where the five styles come from
The model was introduced in a paper in Communication Quarterly in 2010, written by Hall with Steve Carter of the dating site eHarmony and Michael Cody and Julie Albright of the University of Southern California. They surveyed more than 5,100 adults who were dating and developed a questionnaire, the Flirting Styles Inventory, that sorts answers into five styles. Men and women scored similarly on most styles; the clearest difference was that women scored higher on sincere flirting.
Some articles describe this as a 2015 discovery. The 2015 study, by Hall and Chong Xing, came later and did something different: it paired 51 single male and female students for ten-minute conversations, filmed them, and coded 38 kinds of behaviour, from glances and posture to teasing and self-disclosure. Each person's style came from the questionnaire; the videos showed how that style played out in practice. The researchers described flirting style as a person's unique, dispositional way of communicating romantic interest.
Playful and physical flirts
Playful
Playful flirts enjoy flirting for its own sake and treat it as a game. In the 2010 survey they said it boosts their self-esteem, and they were less likely to be looking for long-term romance or to report deep, meaningful relationships. Because flirting is light and frequent for them, others may read more into it than they intend. In the lab, both men and women in this group tended to push their chests out, and playful women gave more flirtatious glances once the conversation warmed up.
Physical
Physical flirts express interest openly through body language and are comfortable showing sexual interest. They tended to form relationships quickly, with strong chemistry and emotional closeness. In the filmed conversations, physical women adopted open postures and nodded a lot. Interestingly, physical men who were attracted to their partner looked at her less and rarely paid compliments, which shows that a style does not always look the way its name suggests.
Sincere and polite flirts
Sincere
Sincere flirts focus on emotional connection. They ask questions, listen closely and show genuine interest in the other person's thoughts and feelings. The survey linked this style to relationships that combine closeness, chemistry and meaning. On camera, sincere flirts, especially men, teased less and traded more flirtatious looks early in the conversation.
Polite
Polite flirts stick to good manners and avoid anything that could seem forward or sexual. They rarely make the first move and do not find flirting especially flattering. That reserve can make their interest hard to spot, yet the survey found they often have meaningful relationships. In the lab they did not lean in or tease, and polite women asked fewer questions.
Traditional flirts
Traditional flirts believe in classic gender roles: the man approaches, the woman waits to be pursued. Traditional men often watch someone for a while before making a move, and both men and women with this style tend to be more introverted and to prefer quiet, intimate settings to bars and parties. The survey found traditional women sometimes struggle to get noticed and are less likely to flirt or to feel flattered by flirting.
In the filmed conversations, traditional men leaned toward their partner, while traditional women showed interest mostly through verbal teasing rather than touch.
Signs of attraction that cut across styles
Some signals in the 2015 study appeared regardless of style. Participants who later said they were attracted to their partner gave more compliments, cast more flirtatious glances early on, touched their own body less (a sign of less nervous fidgeting) and avoided teasing as the conversation wound down. Attracted women smiled, laughed and used open gestures more; attracted men looked at their partner more and sat more still.
These are tendencies across a small group of university students, not a code you can crack. Context, culture and personality all change how interest is shown.
Using the idea well
Knowing your own style can explain a pattern. Hall suggested that understanding how you communicate attraction can shed light on problems in your past dating life, and help you avoid repeating them. A playful flirt might notice why partners felt unsure where they stood; a polite or traditional flirt might see why interest went unnoticed.
It also helps with other people. If someone is reserved, they may still be interested; if someone is teasing and touchy with everyone, that may be their style rather than a signal meant for you. When in doubt, a kind, direct question beats guessing, and anyone who is not interested deserves to have that respected.
The Flirting Styles Inventory is a research tool rather than an official quiz, so the many online versions are informal. Treat any result as a starting point for reflection, not a fixed identity.
Sources: ScienceDaily: University of Kansas release on the 2010 flirting styles study; Psychology Today: Susan Krauss Whitbourne on Hall & Xing (2015); I Heart Intelligence (earlier summary).
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