"Why don't women like nice guys?"
have rarely heard any answer to the main question framed with something other than evolutionary psychology
It's not that women don't like nice guys. It's that "nice or mean" is not particularly relevant to the masculine/feminine relationship.
This comes to an issue of the nature of what is masculine and what is feminine. Set aside "biological male and female" for a moment and look at "masculine and feminine" in the eastern sense of Yin Yang rather than western sense of belching and sports vs pretty pink puppies.
Consider a sculpter working on a sculpture. The masculine sculpter works his intent upon the feminine stone, and she receives it, and becomes the sculpture that he intends. This is a very basic masculine/feminine relationship. And it works. You'll notice that the sculpter "being nice" is not relevant to the exchange. He can like the rock or hate the rock or be indifferent to the rock...it doesn't matter. He can intend to make a pretty sculpture, he can intend to make an ugly sculpture...it doesn't matter. What matters is that his masculine intent is conveyed to the feminine rock, which receives and becomes what it is intended.
Human beings are more complex than this, but the basic masculine and feminine energy relationship still applies. When a "biological male human being" attempts to relate to a "biological female human being" by being nice, and seeking permission, and idolizing her...he's not acting in harmony with the basic Yin Yang energy relationship. When he wait for her to initiate sex, when he gives her control of the relationship...he's playing the feminine role. If she identifies with feminine energy, and is seeking masculine energy...it's not a natural response for her to respond to feminine energy with feminine energy.
On the other hand, when a guy comes along and clearly communicates intent...when a guy who knows what he wants and takes action to try to make it happen...it's more natural for her to respond to that "masculine energy" with her own "feminine energy." Whether that guy is nice or an asshole isn't relevant. Again...it doesn't matter if a sculpter thinks kindly of the stone he works with so long as he applies himself to the stone, the stone is likely to respond. Feminine women tend to behave similarly.
This is further complicated by the apparent tendency of guys who fall into the "nice guy" stereotype to have emotional issues surrounding masculinity. Simply put...a lot of guys who make the complaint that "guys who get girls are assholes" seem to believe that there's something basically wrong with acting in concert with masculine energy.
Feminine energy is fundamentlly non-judgemental. If a sculpter applies energy to stone to turn it into a beautiful sculpture of a bird, the stone will become a sculputre of a beautiful bird. If a sculpter applies energy to a stone to turn it into a messy pile of pebbles...the stone will become a messy pile of pebbles. The stone performed its feminine role by accepting the masculine energy it was offered. The stone doesn't argue with the sculpter that no it doesn't want to be a sculpture of a bird or messy pebbles. Again...I acknowledge that human beings are more complicated than this...but the underlying nature of masculine and feminine energy still applies. If "biological female human"
wants to be feminine, then on some level she
wants to receive masculine energy and become as it desires. That want is there. And when a guy comes long and tries to fulfill that want...is it any surprise if she accepts it?
So...what happens when a "stereotypical nice guy" comes along
genuinely believing that nice guys don't get girls and that girls want bad guys? Well, there's a tendency for feminine energy to respond to that and make it so. He believes nice guys don't get girls, and he's broadcasting that he's a nice guy, and he's
not broadcasting that she should be his girlfriend. Is it any surprise if she accepts what he's broadcasting, that guys like him don't get girls, and acts on it? He's giving her the energy to act on to become exactly what he doesn't want, and she is acting on it...just like any rock being sculpted.
This whole thing is simply a failure on the part of western society to understand the nature of masculine and feminine energy, combined with a whole lot of guilt and anger directed at men.
Guys: you don't have to be an asshole to get girls. You don't need to be a jerk to get laid. You just need to stop hating msaculine energy and you need to stop acting like girls. Start being men. Being a man
does not mean being an asshole. And if you really believe that it does...
that is the problem you're having.