Why some men always think women are interested in them

Previous research found men have a tendency to misjudge a woman's sexual intent

The poster has been put up in bars around Lincoln to help anyone feels unsafe on a bad date and who seeks help from staff in a discreet way (iStock/Getty)

Heterosexual men consistently overestimate a woman's sexual interest, according to new research.

Previous research found men have a tendency to misjudge a woman's sexual intent, often based on individual or situational factors such as alcohol intoxication.

A new study suggests a man's attachment style - a personality trait reflecting relationship tendencies - may influence his perceptions of whether a woman is interested in him sexually.

Researchers asked nearly 500 men to imagine a scenario in which an attractive woman at a nightclub catches their eye and smiles back.

They were then asked to gauge the level of interest they believed the hypothetical woman was showing, ranging from "not interested" to "extremely interested".

The men were also asked to assess the extent they exhibited two tendencies - either toward attachment anxiety or toward attachment avoidance.

The study, to be published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, found men on the higher end of the attachment anxiety spectrum were more likely to imagine a woman being sexually interested in them.

This is due in part to the men's strong desire for intimacy, according to Joshua Hart, associate professor of psychology and the study's lead author.

Men higher in attachment anxiety were found to project their own fliratiousness and sexual interest onto the women, based on their hopes she would reciprocate.

Professor Hart said: "If you view yourself as being flirtatious, that biases you to seeing others as behaving similarly."

Men higher in attachment avoidance felt the opposite: "Their lower interest in intimacy led them to be less interested in the fictional woman, thus seeing themselves as being less flirty, and in turn, imagining the woman as less sexually interested in them," Professor Hart said.

The study provides an example of how wishful thinking pervades human social interactions.

"We see in reality what we wish to see, not necessarily what's there," Professor Hart added.