http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP097991.pdf (SteveO Note: This is a PDF file and will download to your computer. Just a friendly heads up)
and
Attractiveness matters when deciding who should pay for a date
Attractiveness matters when deciding who should pay for a date - Evolutionary Psychology
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So really if I DON’T let the guy pay, I’m basically saying he’s ugly…
I’ve heard that a long time ago too. The way I see it though I don’t go out on dates unless I’m dating.
I think for women it can get awkward if say I would like to invite a guy out, who the pell pays? I think it should be me, because I invited (and because my mother raised me in that twisted way) but guys seem to find it insulting. If you split the bill you basically just moved in to the friend-zone.
I know, I overthink things 
No, you don’t overthink. Since NO-ONE wants to say what’s really on their minds, we all fall into default behavior; with default responses to our own experience parameters; and not necessarily to what may really be happening around us. Sucky, but true. When I left Oz, the attitude was still “if I buy you dinner, you owe me sex”. Thanx to the idiots for inventing political correctness - which I dislike intensely - but for that purpose, had the effect of stopping those ridiculous words before they came out of moronic mouths. I and most of the females I knew, upon agreeing on a date, would then specify who was paying and what was and wasn’t ‘on the table’. :o
Very much a tedious and not so nice part of the alleged mating dance. No wonder Oz has 0 population growth. Lots of dates fell thru for me and my friends in the ‘negotiation’ phase.
So glad I’m considered attractive here. 