Financial Status of Model, Target, and Observer Modulates Mate Choice Copying and the Mediating Effect of Personality

This study investigates the phenomenon of mate choice copying, wherein an individual (the observer) utilizes the assessments of peers of the same sex (the models) regarding a potential partner of the opposite sex (the target), thereby emulating the mate selection preferences of those peers. We examine how the financial status of female models, male targets, and female observers influences mate choice copying, along with the underlying social learning mechanisms. The findings reveal that mate choice copying occurs in the presence of high-financial-status models but is absent when models have low financial status. Mate choice copying, regulated by the financial status of the models, only manifests with targets of low financial status; it does not occur when the target’s financial status is high. Observers with low financial status engage in mate choice copying, irrespective of the models’ financial status. In contrast, observers with high financial status are unaffected by models with a low financial status and only exhibit mate choice copying if the models possess high financial status. Moreover, the study indicates that mediators such as personality traits exert disparate influences on the mate choice copying of observers from different economic backgrounds, suggesting the operation of distinct social learning mechanisms.