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Related Experiment Videos

Does polygyny reduce fertility?

Steven C Josephson1

  • 1Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84102, USA. josephso@anthro.utah.edu

American Journal of Human Biology : the Official Journal of the Human Biology Council
|March 14, 2002
PubMed
Summary

Polygyny in 19th-century Utah reduced women's fertility due to later marriage and co-wife conflict. However, women chose polygyny because their children had higher fertility, offsetting their own reduced reproductive success.

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Area of Science:

  • Human Reproductive Strategies
  • Social Demography
  • Anthropology

Background:

  • Polygyny's impact on fertility is complex, varying across populations.
  • Understanding this requires examining proximate fertility determinants and polygyny as a reproductive strategy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the factors influencing fertility in polygynous societies.
  • To analyze the reproductive trade-offs for women in polygynous marriages.

Main Methods:

  • Historical demographic analysis of 19th-century Utah.
  • Examination of marriage age, spousal age differences, and co-wife interactions.

Main Results:

  • Polygynous women in 19th-century Utah experienced reduced fertility.
  • Factors contributing to lower fertility included older marriage age, older husbands, and co-wife conflict.
  • Sterility and the "dilution effect" did not explain reduced offspring numbers.

Conclusions:

  • Women chose polygyny despite reduced personal fertility.
  • This choice was likely driven by the increased fertility of their children, which compensated for their own lower reproductive output.

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