Men’s status and reproductive success in 33 nonindustrial societies: Effects of subsistence, marriage system, and reproductive strategy

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences • Vol/Iss. 113(39) • National Academy of Sciences • Washington, D.C • Published In • Pages: 10824-10829 •
By von Rueden, Christopher R., Jaeggi, Adrian V.

Abstract

The researchers examine associations between male status and various measures of reproductive success among foraging/non-foraging, and monogamous/polygynous societies in order to test the "egalitarian hypothesis" which predicts lower status effects in hunter-gatherer groups. Contrary to this hypothesis, they find that male social status is equally significantly associated with reproductive success in foraging and nonforaging societies. Additional support is found for the "mating effort" hypothesis, which predicts that male reproductive success will be more associated with fertility than offspring mortality in polygynous societies, leading the authors to make various suggestions regarding the evolutionary mechanisms at play.
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: jack.dunnington