Female Mate Copying: Measuring the Effect of Mate-Relevant Information Provided by Former Partners
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Female Mate Copying: Measuring the Effect of Mate-Relevant Information Provided by Former Partners Emily Scammell 1 & Ryan C. Anderson 1 Received: 20 February 2020 / Revised: 13 April 2020 / Accepted: 15 April 2020 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract One of the most important decisions an individual can make is to invest in a relationship. For women, the process of mate selection can be time-intensive, and fraught with costs and dangers. However, these risks can be minimised by modelling the mate choices of others. The propensity to imitate another’s mate choices is referred to as mate copying. Most research has focused on this behaviour in nonhumans, but evidence of its existence in humans is emerging. In the current study, 750 women evaluated men’s desirability based on vignettes containing information provided by men’s former partners. A man’s desirability was enhanced in the presence of positive cues (i.e. when he was described as a “good” partner and his former relationship ended mutually). In contrast, a man’s desirability diminished in the presence of negative cues (i.e. when he was described as a “bad” partner and/or his former relationship breakup was female initiated). Overall, the current study adds to the existing body of knowledge on mate copying by demonstrating how females incorporate social learning and innate evolutionary drives to facilitate decision-making and behaviour relating to mate selection. Keywords Mate copying . Mate-avoidance . Mate-relevant information . Mate choice . Social information
Finding a mate is one of the most important decisions an individual will make. The process of mate selection can be risky, resource-intensive, and may be undertaken several times throughout one’s life (Wade and Pruett-Jones 1990). Using social cues when evaluating a potential mate may minimise these costs (Candolin 2003). Humans are highly social beings, and their mating decisions are often influenced by the mating choices of others (Graziano et al. 1993; Platek et al. 2001; Street et al. 2018; Waynforth 2007). Humans (and some other species) have been observed to imitate the mate choices of others, in a process known as mate copying. Considered a Highlights • Humans sometimes use a strategy known as “mate copying” to determine someone’s suitability as a partner • We show that women are highly attentive to negative cues from about men • Women dislike men described as “bad” by a former partner • Women also dislike men who have experienced a female-initiated breakup * Ryan C. Anderson [email protected] 1
School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, & Health Sciences, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
form of social learning, mate copying refers to the probability of being chosen as a mate depending on prior displays of mating success. Essentially, prior selection or rejection as a mate respectively increases or decreases one’s chance of future mate selection (Pruett-Jones 1992). Mate copying was first observed
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