physcology&anthropology of monogamy/orientation

Historically, we can say that we only mate for the purpose of creation; to get your genes to survive. Throughout time, pologyny was dominant but somehow monogamy became the idealistic way of living. How was this possible?is religion responsible for this dramtic socilogic change? If so, why do monotheistic as well as other polytheistic religions shun the idea of evolution but not the physcological perspective of modern thought? another thought, because of monogamous relationships, offspring have become more and more dependent on their parents (particularly the mother). It has be proven in several cases that individuals cannot survive without kinship. How can this be explained?

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Answer #1

The male inherited an instinct to inseminate as many females, while the female was similarly impelled to conceive with desirable males.

But how to square these primal ways with the newer, male-female pairing?

When ancestral humans began assuming an erect posture, the size of the birth canal reduced in size while the baby’s head got bigger. These changes forced a reduction in the gestation period and meant that after birth, more parental attention was required for longer.

Therefore if the human female mated with males of commitment the child was more likely to survive if the father helped provide food & protection. Then of course the traits would be passed on to the offspring.

This artical might help answer your question http://www.progressivehumanism.com/sex.html

That being said though, animals don’t mate just for the sake of reproducing, they do because it’s in their instinctive nature to.

Answer #2

Monogamy has become the norm in most societies because of economic and social reasons.

Typically, it’s more financially difficult to support more than one wife, there fore a man sticks with one. Socially, monogamy became strictly enforced by the Roman Empire, after they absorbed Christianity as the State Religion, and it became the rule for Western Civilization to this day.

Hope this helps…

Answer #3

I would argue that polygyny has never been dominant… perhaps its practice was not uncommon and it was seen in all different parts of the world, however, I do not know if it was ever the dominant form of partnership as historically as well as presently, the only people who could afford more than one female partner were people who had the money to do so… and given that historically most of the population certainly did not have the means to do so, I highly doubt it was ever the most dominant form of partnership any where in the world. Of course this isnt my area of expertise so if you have contradicting evidence I would like to read about it…

why do monotheistic as well as other polytheistic religions shun the idea of evolution but not psychological perspective, uhm you’re going to have to be more specific here in regards to which religions you’re discussing, and my guess would be that most religions have a creation story… that creation story is usually in direct contradiction with evolution… so… however, psychology was never really discussed in the ancient times, so there’s little resistance towards it…

because of monogamous relationships, offspring have become more and more dependent on their parents

uhm no… because of the nuclear family offspring have become more dependant on their parents… in collectivist societies, the extended family is very much involved in raising children… it is in individualistic ones that this happens… and that has nothing to do with monogamy…

Answer #4

If anyone wants to go further with this, it’s a good idea to be clear about the different terms:

polygamy is when one partner (male or female) can have many mates(wives or husbands) at the same time

polyandry is when one women has several husbands/male mates at the same time, and

polygyny when one men has several female mates/wives at the same time

I mention this because in some places - Tibet and northern Nepal are prime examples even today - it has been common for women to marry a man and his younger brothers (polyandry), but it has never been common for men in these societies to marry more than one woman (polygyny). Polygamy is the term to us when talking about both forms.

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