Strangers can influence choice of romantic partners

Friends and family have an important say when it comes to a fling or relationship partner. But a new study finds that both men and women are also highly influenced by the opinion of strangers when it comes to their dating choices.
Findings of the study suggest that humans also pay special attention to the preferences of others in order to complete the searching process for a mate.
"Humans don't exist in a vacuum. From an evolutionary standpoint, it makes sense that we have evolved mechanisms that let us take advantage of the additional social information in our environment," lead author of the study, Skyler Place, a researcher in Indiana University (IU) Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, was quoted by the Times of India as saying.
Details of the study
To reach this conclusion, a research team from the Indiana University (IU) looked at 40 men and 40 women, all of whom were IU students.
For the study, all these participants were asked to watch videos of eight speed dating interactions that took place in Germany.
Speed dating is a process wherein men and women have several mini-dates, each of which lasts for three minutes.
After every date, the speed daters filled in a card mentioning whether they would like to see the other person again.
Based on the videos, the participants were asked to predict whether the dates were successful or not.
The researchers then analyzed how the students’ own interest in the speed daters was affected depending on what they perceived while they watched the videos.
Outcome of the study
The researchers noted that the male participants were generally found to be interested in women speed daters.
However, their interest increased, if the men in the videos appeared to be interested in the women or if they were more attractive than the male participants.
On the other hand, female participants were shown to be interested in the men speed daters if the women in the videos were also interested. But their interest declined if the women on the speed dates didn’t seem interested.
Through this study, the scientists have been able to find evidence of “mate choice copying,” in humans, the process of mimicking the mating preferences of others, a behavior commonly found in birds and fish.
“We might think that searching for mates is a process best done individually, that we can best gather by ourselves," Place was quoted by Aol Health as saying.
“But humans, like many other animals, also pay attention to the preferences of others, to make for a more efficient search process. Who others like might also be a good choice for ourselves.”
The study has been published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.