(Image Source: Houston Chronicle)

BY KIM ST. ONGE

Ever been to a bar and wondered why the guy spitting game can’t seem to take a hint? A new study says--there’s a rhyme and a reason why he thinks he’s a total babe magnet. WNBC explains.

"It talks about how men and women look at and estimate how the opposite sex is attracted to most of the time, men overestimate how attracted women are to them and women underestimate how attracted -- the really, really hot guys apparently don't think women are as interested in them.”

Researchers at Williams College and University of Texas at Austin asked about 200 undergraduate guys and gals to rate their attractiveness before having short conversations with a member of the opposite sex.

After the convos, the participants ranked the other person’s attractiveness and asked how sexually interested they thought the person was. According to the researcher behind the study-- men often made one of two mistakes.

“Either you think, ‘Oh, wow, that woman’s really interested in me’—and it turns out she’s not.  There’s some cost to that,” such as embarrassment or a blow to your reputation. The other error: “She’s interested, and he totally misses out.  He misses out on a mating opportunity.  That’s a huge cost in terms of reproductive success.”

A Jezebel blogger argues there are social explanations for the study’s findings.  
 

“Women, for instance, are heavily conditioned not to "brag" about male interest in them, which may cause them to actually underestimate it. And men may learn over the course of their lives that acting like all the girls like them gives them the confidence they need to approach women, even if they get shot down some of the time.”

A writer for The Telegraph says the occaisional strike out might be worth it.

“Making moves on a greater number of women, some of whom are better-looking than them, raises the men's risk of an embarrassing knock-back but also reduces the chance of missing out on a potential partner.”

Hot or not, the study finds if a man’s looking to hook up, he’s more likely to rate the girl’s interest level high.