Not All Copying Works the Same: Confidence and Attention Reveal Distinct Mechanisms of Human Mate-Choice Copying Under Individual Information

Mate-choice copying refers to the adjustment of one’s evaluations of potential mates based on others’ choices. While the mate-choice copying effect has been shown to be attenuated by individual information, it remains unclear if its influence varies between acceptance and rejection social cues, and what mechanisms underlie these effects. Across two behavioral and eye-tracking studies, female participants first rated the depicted males as potential romantic partners and reported their confidence. They then re-rated them after observing same-sex models’ acceptance, rejection, or undecided attitudes, with individual information manipulated as present or absent. Results showed that ratings increased following observed acceptance and decreased after observed rejection, both with stronger effects when individual information was absent. Confidence analyses revealed that, under rejection, absent information reduced confidence, which in turn partly accounted for the increase in copying; in contrast, acceptance copying was not mediated by confidence. Eye-tracking further showed that acceptance cues enhanced visual attention to the photographs and predicted stronger copying, whereas rejection cues did not reliably alter gaze distribution. These findings suggest that, although individual information modulated acceptance and rejection in behaviorally similar ways, confidence and attention revealed distinct mechanisms, providing novel insights into the cognitive foundations of individual and social influence in mate choice.