I don’t know much about flirting, but The Social Issues Research Centre commissioned a report on the subject. Woo-hoo, SIRC! That is my kinda research! (Oh, wait, I drool over research of many kinds… but I digress.)
The tone of the article is odd, half sociological and half DIY. Here’s one piece of welcome advice:
If you are female, the odds are that you are more attractive than you think…
followed by some even more welcome advice:
…so try flirting with some better-looking men.
macbebekin.wordpress.com 
…like Colin Firth? I’d volunteer for some ‘research’ if they could line that up!
Where have you two been? I’m waiting for my next fix here…
I am finding the SIRC’s advice quite liberating. Since I posted this, I have frequently taken a deep breath, reminded myself that, empirically, statistically, I am probably more attractive than I think, and it has freed me to flirt shamelessly with some very handsome men, with rather delightful (although as yet, um, untallied) results.