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A synthesis of evolutionary psychology and cultural
anthropology gives a somewhat different answer:
People get married because a desire for long-term
relationships increased the inclusive fitness of our
ancient ancestors, with the form of marriage subject
to cultural influences.
During the period of human evolution,
babies with fathers around were more likely
to survive.
The Nayar in southern India: a society without marriage?
Regardless of the answer, beware of letting a single case
undermine any attempt to generalize.
Marriage is universal or near-universal,
but its form varies across societies.
Forms of Marriage:
Of all societies that have been studied,
82% were polygynous,
17% monogamous, and
<1% polyandrous.
monogamy is where you can be married to only one person
polygamy is the general term for multiple marriages
polygyny is where men can have more than one wife
polyandry is where women can have more than one husband
In polygynous societies, only high-status
men have multiple wives. Thus, most
societies are polygynous, but most
marriages—even in polygnous societies—are
monogamous.
The handful of polyandrous societies on
record existed in environments with
scarce resources. Two brothers often
share the same wife, which keeps the
birth rate low.
Across societies, marrying for love is rare.
In most societies, marriages are arranged,
often with input from the bride and groom.
In summary, marriage shows both evolutionary and cultural
influences.
Arranged marriages are usually more stable
than Western love marriages.
Is a mother’s love for her baby universal?
Our cultural norm (for example, in movies) presumes
instant bonding between a mother and her baby.
Nancy Scheper-Hughes,
Death Without Weeping
Fieldwork in a shantytown in one of the poorest
parts of Brazil.
The birthrate in the shanty averaged
9.5 per woman.
On average,
1.5 were stillborn
3.5 died young, usually before 6 months
4.5 reached adulthood
The mothers did not take extra measures to save weak
or sick infants (“passive euthanasia”). The mothers did not
cry or mourn when infants died.
Scheper-Hughes: maternal love is not universal.
Historians of the Middle Ages have found a similar pattern
during times and places of high mortality.
So is maternal love a cultural phenomenon devoid of
evolutionary influence?
Smith: No, evolution has a strong influence too.
Which evolutionary strategy would pass
more of a mother’s genes into future
generations?
1. As a legacy of evolution, mothers have an innate desire
to shower love and resources on every child from the
moment of birth.
OR
2. As a legacy of evolution, mothers have a flexible desire
that grows over time according to a child’s likelihood of
surviving to adulthood.
Even in our own society, instant bonding is a myth.
New mothers sometimes don’t feel the
bond and instead suffer from post-partum
depression.
Most societies on record have practiced
infanticide through child sacrifice, direct
killing, or exposing an infant to the
elements.
Can the logic of strategy #2 give us insights into why and
when people practice infanticide?
In a study of 60 societies, the following reasons were most
common for infanticide:
deformity or illness in the baby
multiple births (usually twins)
timing (too soon after a previous birth)
economic hardship
absence of the father
These are all consistent with strategy #2. Either the
infant is unlikely to survive and reproduce, or the mother
cannot support it.