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Male friends, not female company, make a man more attractive

2007; Finnish Zoological and Botanical Publishing Board; Volume: 44; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

1797-2450

Markku Milonoff, Petri Nummi, Outi Nummi, Esa Pienmunne,

Animal Behavior and Reproduction

Mate choice is often considered independent, but recently attention has been paid to social influences on mate preference, i.e. non-independent mate choice. Especially in humans, mate preference may be influenced by reactions and opinions of other individuals. One type of non-independent mate choice documented in a wide variety of taxa is copying the choice of other females. Although humans may not be a species in which mate choice copying is most likely to occur, many aspects of the human mating system may have favored mate choice copying, and the possibility of copying in humans has been suggested. Apart from other women's choice, women can use evaluations by other men as a mate choice criterion, because a man's friends can reveal a lot about his social skills and status. We used image processed photographs to study the effect of male friends and the occurrence of mate choice copying in teenage females. We tested if male or female company affected the attractiveness of men in photos or influenced the respondent's willingness to date the men. A positive effect of male company was detected, but no indication of mate choice copying was found. During the evolution of human social skills, a support group and recognized status within it may have been important resources for raising offspring. Although no indication of mate choice copying was found, copying in humans may be a complicated process, and it may appear in circumstances different from our test arrangement.