Abstract: Mate Copying (or Mate Choice Copying) describes a strategy of mate choice. In this review, we demonstrate the basic concepts and the research paradigms of mate copying and show how the related factors work in this process. Such recent achievements and developing trend in this field are summarized as the gender effect (compared with men, women are more likely to use mate copying in mate choice), and other factors, which have impact on mate copying, like physical attractiveness, age, sexual strategy and sexual experience, etc. Further implications are discussed that the process of generalization of mate copying is one of the reasons causing the in-group congruent and inter-group incongruent effects on mate preferences. Finally, we conclude that mate copying is an adaptive social-learning-based strategy on sexual selection.

Key words: mate copying, social learning, sexual selection strategy