Mate-choice Copying In Women:Indirect Inferences Based On Attractiveness Ratings And Direct Measurement Through Willingness Of Mate Selection

It has been hypothesized that female mate choice is a genetically determined trait since Fisher (1958) put forward models of sexual selection. Theoretical models of sexual selection assume that females are independent of other females when choosing male partners. Some researchers believe that preferences remain fixed throughout the lifetime of the organism and result from strong genetic influences. However, it has been suggested that the environment, including the social environment, can explain variation in mating preferences. Furthermore, studies in humans have also concluded that an imprinting-like mechanism influences human mate choice in facial traits.Studies of humans and non-human animals indicate that females tend to change the likelihood of choosing a certain male (target) as a partner based on the mate choice of other females (model); this is known as mate-choice copying. Mate-choice copying benefits females by allowing them to avoid the costs associated with assessing potential mates including time, energy, the risk of predation, and other sacrifices. In addition, mate-choice copying also reduces the uncertainty of the mate assessment process and improves females’ discrimination of mates. Early exploration of mate-choice copying mostly concentrated in the non-human animals including birds and fish, whereas the systematic studies in humans are much later. At present, there are abundant study on mate-choice copy in human abroad, but the domestic research is still very scarce. In general, in the present study, mate-choice copying will be demonstrated via indirect inferences based on attractiveness ratings, and direct measurement through willingness of mate selection under Chinese cultural background. Specifically, we mainly discussed the four problems in this paper:(1) We tested whether the relationship status of female observers would impact their mate-choice copying; (2) We explored the influence of relationship status between the target men and model women on mate-choice copying effects; (3) we examined whether subjects’level of attractiveness would have an effect on their own copying behaviors; (4) we also examined whether female observers would copy the models’ negative mate decisions (rejection).The experiment 1 used a two factor mixed design. First, participants were shown the photos of the opposite sex (target) and were instructed to rate the attractiveness of the men in the photographs. Next, compound photographs (target man+model woman) with the models’ interests were presented to participants; participants were asked to indicate their willingness to choose the man in the picture as partner and rate the attractiveness of the men in the compound photos again. Finally, we randomly selected 20 compound photos, told subjects that the man and woman in each photo had been in a committed romantic relationship, and asked them to indicate their willingness to choose the man in the picture as a partner. Analysis of variance showed:(1) mate-choice copying appeared to exist in Chinese women; (2) both the single and coupled women showed mate-choice copying, but their response patterns differed; (3) the relationship status between target men and model women did not influence the occurrence of mate-choice copying but did affect the magnitude of mate-choice copying effects; (4) the single women were more sensitive to rejection information.The experiment 2 is designed primarily to examine whether the attractive level of participants would have an effect on their own copying behaviors. Participants were separated into three groups based on the self assessments of their own attractiveness:high attractive group; low attractive group; medium attractive group. Experiment 2 still involved a two factor mixed design. The procedure in experiment 2 is much the same as in experiment 1, but more shorter. First, participants were shown the photos of the opposite sex (target) and were asked to rate the attractiveness of the men in the photographs. Subsequently, compound photographs (target man+model woman) with the models’ interests were presented to participants; participants were asked to indicate their willingness to choose the man in the picture as a partner and rate the attractiveness of the men in the compound photos again. Analysis of variance showed:participants’ level of attractiveness would affect their mate-choice copying, even after the relationship status and the love experience have been controlled. Specifically, only those in high attractive group showed mate-choice copying; they significantly improved the attractiveness ratings of the target men accepted by other women. However, women in medium attractive group and low attractive group did not.