Fortunato, L.;
Archetti, M.;
(2010)
Evolution of monogamous marriage by maximization of inclusive fitness.
Journal of Evolutionary Biology
, 23
(1)
pp. 149-156.
10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01884.x.
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Abstract
The majority of human societies allow polygynous marriage, and the prevalence of this practice is readily understood in evolutionary terms. Why some societies prescribe monogamous marriage is however not clear: current evolutionary explanations that social monogamy increases within-group co-operation, giving societies an advantage in competition with other groups conflict with the historical and ethnographic evidence. We show that, within the framework of inclusive fitness theory, monogamous marriage can be viewed as the outcome of the strategic behaviour of males and females in the allocation of resources to the next generation. Where resources are transferred across generations, social monogamy can be advantageous if partitioning of resources among the ospring of multiple wives causes a depletion of their fitness value and/or if females grant husbands higher fidelity in exchange for exclusive investment of resources in their ospring. This may explain why monogamous marriage prevailed among the historical societies of Eurasia: here, intensive agriculture led to scarcity of land, with depletion in the value of estates through partitioning among multiple heirs. Norms promoting high paternity were common among ancient societies in the region, and may have further facilitated the establishment of social monogamy. In line with the historical and ethnographic evidence, this suggests that monogamous marriage emerged in Eurasia following the adoption of intensive agriculture, as ownership of land became critical to productive and reproductive success.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Evolution of monogamous marriage by maximization of inclusive fitness |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01884.x |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01884.x |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com |
| Keywords: | Marriage, wealth inheritance, monogamy, polygyny, paternity, human social behaviour, kin selection, inclusive fitness, strategic behaviour, social norms, human behavioural ecology |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Anthropology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/18427 |
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