Costs of Polygyny

doi:10.1017/9781108943581.012

9 - Costs of Polygyny

from Part II - Applications to Health, Law, and Pornography

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 June 2022

Rose McDermott

Edited by

Todd K. Shackelford

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Todd K. Shackelford: Affiliation:
Oakland University, Michigan

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Summary

Polygyny is common around the world both historically as well as contemporaneously. The evolutionary goals supporting and incentivizing the practice, particularly for men, are clear.However, polygyny does not come without serious economic, social, and political costs for both men and women in the current environment.Like the innate taste for sweetness, polygyny constitutes a case where past drives and goals do not map on well to current environmental circumstances.This chapter begins with some definitional and theoretical issues followed by a discussion of some of the economic, health, and political costs associated with polygyny.Results from recent experimental work on cross-cultural attitudes toward polygyny, involving populations that are nationally representative by sex and by religion,are presented. The chapter concludes with discussion of the some of the theoretical and policy implications resulting from these costs.

Keywords

polygyny experiment evolution sex differences religion

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology , pp. 237 - 251

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108943581.012 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2022

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9 - Costs of Polygyny

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