Flirting signs of women puzzle men, says study

London, Mar 30 (UNI) She likes me, she likes me not! Men seem to be inborn with this dilemma, as a research claims that they are dumb when it comes to understanding the signs of flirting.

Going by the research, most men do not understand what those fluttering eyelashes, giggles and lame jokes mean. It shows that men mistake women's sexual signals as merely friendly, and are prone to see friendliness as a blatant advance.

But it does not mean that women might as well ditch the lipstick. Not all flirting gets lost in translation.

''These are average differences, some men are very skilled in reading clues, '' lead researcher Coreen Ferris said.

Researchers at Indiana University of US used nearly 300 undergraduates of both sexes to test students' abilities to spot a ''come-on''. The students were asked to view images of women and categorise them as friendly, sexually interested, sad or rejecting.

Each undergraduate reported on 280 photographs, which had been sorted into the four categories based on surveys by different groups of students.

Male students scored worse for accuracy than females - and they were particularly confused by amiability and amorousness.

The men commonly mistook women's sexual signals as merely friendly and were prone to see friendliness as a blatant advance.

Kathy Lette, the best-selling author, said the research was further evidence of women's superiority. ''Women are fluent in body language, men just have the gift of the gab,'' she said.

''It is really confusing for women. The average bloke either doesn't realise that we fancy them until we are giving birth to their children in the labour ward; or he presumes all women fancy him all the time.

''God was playing some kind of prank when he developed two sexes, '' the Daily Telegraph quoted her as saying.

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