Polygamy

Polygamy is marriage that involves more than two persons. The marriage of one man to more than one wife is termed polygyny. The marriage of one woman to multiple men is termed polyandry. A marriage involving multiple men and multiple women is frequently called a group marriage. While in many parts of the developed worlds, the idea of polygamy is not socially or legally accepted, we do see the existence of serial monogamous marriages in which a person is married, divorced, or widowed and remarries.

Globally, various forms of polygamy have been found in a majority of world cultures. When examining global cultures, polygyny in some form is commonly exhibited in 78 percent of cultures. Comparatively, only about 21 percent of cultures practice pure monogamous marriages, and less than 1 percent practice polyandry. When comparing the global cultures, it is important to note that many small, traditional, low-tech cultures with small populations are taken into consideration along with cultures with large populations. Polygyny is found in an especially high number of cultures in Africa, and to lesser degrees in Central and South America and Asian/Pacific Island groups.

While many cultures demonstrate the presence of polygamy, this does not mean it is widely practiced. In societies practicing polygynous marriage, only wealthy men are able to support multiple wives. These societies typically demonstrate occurrence rates of polygynous marriage of less than 10 percent, with no more than 25 percent to 35 percent occurrence at most. Generally, most polygynous marriages include two wives. While the reasons to marry more than one woman vary, one noted path to multiple wives is the marriage of a man to a sister-in-law after his brother's death to provide economic support and maintain familial ties.

Polyandry, while not a common practice, can be an adaptive approach to an environment with limited resources. Polyandry tends to be found in societies with nomadic herding traditions where men may travel frequently to graze their animals. Frequently, polyandry occurs between a woman and brothers, thus keeping all children and resources within the same family. Polyandry limits fertility rates because the woman may have only one child at a time despite having multiple male sexual partners. On the other hand, polygyny tends to increase fertility rates, as a man can impregnate multiple women simultaneously.

Living arrangements of polygynous families vary across cultures. While, in some cultures, wives may share one residence with their husband, separate residences are more common when economically feasible. Frequently, these separate residences are located close to each other and may even share communal spaces, such as gardens, yards, or even parts of homes; however, the separate spaces enable the husband to share a dyadic marriage pattern with each wife and reduce conflict between wives. Variations occur, however, particularly once children are present from multiple wives. The familial responsibilities of housekeeping and child care may prompt wives to share spaces and redistribute resources and children by gender and age within a family setting; for example, all female children from the multiple wives may share a single bedroom.

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