Abstract
In the current study, we conducted a behavioral experiment to test the mate coping effect and a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment to test the neural basis involved in the social learning process of mate copying. In the behavioral experiment, participants were asked to rate the attractiveness of isolated opposite-sex (potential mates) facial photographs, then shown the targets associating with a neutral-faced model with textual cues indicating the models’ attitude (interested vs. not-interested) toward the potential mates, and then asked to re-evaluate the potential mates’ attractiveness. Using a similar procedure as the behavioral experiment, participants were scanned while observing the compound images in the fMRI experiment. The mate copying effect was confirmed in the behavioral experiment –greater increase in attractiveness ratings was observed for opposite-sex photographs in the interested than in the not-interested condition. The fMRI results showed that the dorsolateral prefrontal gyrus (DLPFC) was significantly active in the comparison of interested > not-interested condition, suggesting that a cognitive integration and selection function may be involved when participants process information from conditions related to mate copying.
Highlights
When it comes to assessing the attractiveness of men, women can be influenced by other women relatively
The present study examined the effect of mate copying while manipulating models’ attitude
The mate copying effect was confirmed in our behavioral experiment – greater increased attractiveness ratings for opposite-sex photographs were observed when they were paired with models with interested attitude than with models with not-interested attitude
Summary
When it comes to assessing the attractiveness of men, women can be influenced by other women relatively . Women rated men as being more desirable if the men were pictured with other women rather than pictured alone or with other men (Hill and Buss, 2008). This social transmission of mate preferences has been broadly referred to as mate copying or mate-choice copying and has been described in humans in recent years (Eva and Wood, 2006; Jones et al, 2007; Waynforth, 2007; Little et al, 2008; Place et al, 2010; Yorzinski and Platt, 2010; Bowers et al, 2011). Jones et al (2007) performed a study in which the participants viewed the same males associating with either a female with smiling face (showing interest) or a
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