These studies may reflect classic mate choice copying. But some researchers favor an alternative hypothesis: Human mate copying results from our species’ general tendency to learn from others instead of solving problems independently. Compared with chimpanzees, our closest evolutionary relatives, humans imitate our peers far more often. This is especially true with prestigious individuals and when facing a high-risk decision with uncertain outcomes, according to anthropological research (e.g. here, here).

For example, a 2018 Scientific Reports paper had 49 females rate the attractiveness of photos showing male faces, male hands and abstract art on a scale of 1 to 100. Next, each woman saw the distribution of scores from other participants as an indication of popular opinion. Then she reevaluated the photos. The overall initial rating of faces moved 13 points toward the group average. But the same was true for the hands (13 points) and abstract art (14 points). The copying extended beyond mates.

Humans may just have an evolved proclivity to play it safe by mimicking others, which applies to everything from husbands to fine art. Or, over the course of human evolution, it may have been especially beneficial for females to copy mating decisions — an adaptation influencing today’s dating decisions.