Most people agree that choosing “the right partner” is important. In order to seem like the “right” partner, most people will combine self-promotion with a bit of competition to make themselves appear more attractive. Is conscious in some of our efforts, while is unconscious.
According to research, people who have had relationship experience are more desirable romantically than those without experience. People are drawn to people who have been “pre-selected.” This phenomenon is called “mate-copying”.
Mate copying is the act of purchasing a product, such as a romantic partner, after watching others “use” that product. A person’s “desirable romantic qualities” (which have been appealing to at least one other person) are communicated by being in a relationship. You can be sure that there is something about the individual you find attractive.
Do men and women copy each other?
In a way, the former partners of a particular person “endorse” them or testify to their romantic competency. In doing so, the previous partners are indirectly providing relevant information about a person.
Why might this information be helpful? If you’re going to make a big decision (like who to partner with), you want to have a lot of information. You can make a better decision if you know that someone else was chosen previously.
There is a difference between men and women, which comes down to biology. There is a lot of literature that supports the idea that men are attracted to physical qualities.
Women are more attracted to characteristics that are less obvious, such as kindness and social dominance. Women are less able to get information about a partner’s mate from observing them. They must look for more details. Knowing what other women say about a man is a cheap way to find out if he’s a romantic prospect.
Some literature suggests the phenomenon is stronger in women.
Men don’t benefit as much from mate-copying as women. Men gain marginal information by learning what other men are thinking about a female.
Can a relationship be attractive or not?
You may have heard about “the wedding-ring effect,” even if you haven’t heard of the term “mate copying.” This is a popular (ish) belief that wearing a marriage ring makes men desirable because they have won the romantic favor of at least one person opposite-sex (his wife), who will commit to him.
It’s not surprising that this belief persists. A man who is willing to commit is attractive.
Does not support that married men are more attractive than single men. This is because married people are harder to date and attract than singles. There are also some moral prohibitions against dating a married individual.
Quantity is not everything.
Like many other things, quality over quantity is the key to mate-copying. A man will be more attractive if his current or former female partner is attractive than if she’s less appealing. We also know that a moderate level of experience in relationships makes a man desirable, but too much can make him unattractive.
In a study that I co-authored, we looked at the romantic attractiveness of a man in relation to how many partners he had over the last four years. Men who had one or two partners in the past were more desirable, while men with five previous partners were less desirable.
It might appear strange that this relationship is non-linear. If a little relationship experience would be desirable, wouldn’t a whole lot of relationship experience also be hot? No, it’s not. The reason has to do with prostitution.
It’s not uncommon for someone to have had more than five previous relationships, but it could indicate that they can’t or don’t want to maintain a long-term relationship. They may have difficulty committing or be more interested in quantity. They are showing undesirable qualities in a relationship.
In the last few decades, nonhuman animals have been closely studied for mate copying. Numerous authors found evidence iof itn aquatic, bird, and terrestrial species. Although the study of this phenomenon in humans is relatively new, preliminary evidence indicates that it exists and has a powerful attraction force.
