Mate choice copying; Positive evaluations; Role models’ relationship with the target opposite sex; Gender differences; Mate choice strategies; Love variety show
Mate choice copying is a phenomenon in which an individual copies the choice of a person by another person of the same sex (a role model) in the process of mate choice. Positive copying occurs when positive evaluations of the opposite sex by others of the same sex (role models) are observed, and the individual’s evaluation of that opposite sex also increases.In this study, 60 college students were used as subjects in a 2*3*2 mixed experiment to explore the effects of role model’s relationship with the target opposite sex (base line, romantic relationship, non-romantic relationship) and mate-choice strategy (long-term strategy, short-term strategy) on mate-choice copying under the condition of role model’s positive evaluations and to analyze the gender differences in it. The results found that: under the positive role model evaluation condition, (1) both males and females produced mate choice copying and both tended to use short-term mate choice strategies; (2) the role model’s relationship with the target opposite sex had different effects on the mate choice copying of the two genders, with both genders’ willingness to engage in a relationship being the highest when the target opposite sex was single (non-romantic relationship); however, males’ willingness to engage in a long-term relationship was significantly lower when they learned that the target opposite sex was in a romantic relationship. This suggests that other same-sex people’s favorable comments about the single target opposite sex can significantly increase both genders’ willingness to engage in a relationship, but men are more concerned about women’s emotional experiences, and this effect may be negative, which may be related to men’s concept of sexual monopoly.