When evaluating a potential partner, we unconsciously take into account the views of our competitors.
At the very least, a study by Scottish psychologists at the University of Aberdeen found that women primarily like men who are admired by other women. Participants of the experiment of both sexes were asked to rate the attractiveness of men in photographs. Then, to these pictures, a photo of a woman in profile was added, which seemed to be looking at one of the male photographs. The participants of the experiment chose the one to whom the lady from the picture “smiled”. Men, on the other hand, perceived this man as a rival, and he seemed unattractive to them.