Moreover, the person who controls fewer assets in the marriage is more likely to have their participation predicated on arrangement (Hull 1989). At no additional cost to you, we will earn a commission, which helps us run this blog and keep our in-depth content free of charge for all our readers. crime A considerable body of research suggests psychological effects on boys of growing up in polygynous households, particularly if they grow up in mother-child dwellings where the father is relatively absent early in a boys life. Ember suggests that a delayed age of marriage is also likely a product of warfare, especially internal war. 2011). Second, other sexual rules could be invented, such as rules regulating rotation of partners. 1962. J. F. McLennan[8] holds that exogamy was due originally to a scarcity of women among small bands. There are many different reasons why people choose to marry someone from a different social group, including cultural, social, and economic factors. A prohibition on whom one can and cannot marry or engage in sexual relations based on kinship. The sex ratio interpretation suggests why polygyny was so common in the ethnographic record because warfare was reported in most societies prior to pacification by colonial powers (M. Ember 1974). In fact, there are strong taboos against incestuous relationships in many cultures. Children from a marriage are symbolized by a downward line from the marriage. Social stratification is present (Nimkoff and Middleton 1960). Confinement of womens reproductive potential to one man (Frayser 1985). We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. tends to occur in societies with non-intensive agriculture or pastoralism at middle ranges of complexity (Schlegel and Eloul 1988; Evascu 1975). Cultural exogamy is marrying outside a specific cultural group; the opposite being endogamy, marriage within a social group. (In contrast, bride price and bride service are directed at the brides kin, not to the bride or the new household). Preference for fathers brothers daughter marriage (patrilateral parallel cousin marriage) preference is more likely in patrilocal societies (Flinn and Low 1987). Ember, Melvin, Carol R. Ember, and Bobbi S. Low. He takes his companion to the paternal home, where he lives with her for a while and where she cooks together with the boys mother. Munck, Victor de, and Andrey V. Korotayev. 1979. Cultural exogamy is the custom of marrying outside a specified group of people to which a person belongs. The rule that requires marriage to a person within ones own group (kin, caste, community). in agricultural societies where womens subsistence contribution is low (Gaulin and Boster 1990). criminality While they are rarely the typical form of marriage in a society, societies practicing polyandry to some degree are more likely to have an opposite sex ratio favoring males rather than females (Starkweather and Hames 2012 see polyandry section below). A substantial transfer of goods or money from the brides family to the bride, the groom, or to the couple. Disclosure:Please note that some of the links in this post are affiliate links. 1900. Human Relations Area Files, Inc. (HRAF) is an internationally recognized organization in the field of cultural anthropology. In contrast, in socially simpler societies, the entire population of able-bodied men may be expected to be warriors.6. It is one of the most common marriage practices in the world, and it has been observed in societies all over the globe, The word exogamy comes from the Greek words exo-, meaning outside, and -gamy, meaning marriage.. What predicts variation in family household form? The opposite of exogamy is endogamy . The more likely that marital residence is with or near the husbands kin, the more likely there is compensation to the brides kin (M. Ember 1970). And families vary in size and composition from a single-parent unit to very large multi-generation families and households. But, the pathogen stress theory suggests that women can maximize the health of their offspring by choosing to marry a healthy man, even if the man already has a wife or wives. Huber, Brad R., William F. Danaher, and William L. Breedlove. Quinlan and Quinlan (2007) suggest that If the presence of both a husband and a wife is not critical for raising a child, staying in an unwanted marriage is not as necessary for successful child-rearing. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Why? A high male mortality in warfare may be the main cause of a sex-ratio favoring females. Rainfall variability is likely to produce uneven productivity between communities and exogamy provides more opportunities for movement to even out resources. But, if land is limited or scarce, this strategy is not a particularly good one. "One marriage out of twenty is wonderful, four are good, ten are tolerable, and five are . 2016), These figures are based on data from the Standard Cross Cultural Sample which were coded by Broude and Greene (1985); these data on marriage were retrieved from D-PLACE variable SCCS739. Greater social involvement in the marriage (Frayser 1985). Such transactions, such as bride price or dowry, reflect higher involvement in the establishment of a marriage. In endogamous, marriages with the same families are prohibited. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. At the other extreme, there are societies that not only tolerate first cousin marriage, but actively try to promote marriage to a cousin, usually a particular type of cousin. Marriage outside this group is exogamy. An exogamous marital arrangement is one where individuals marry outside of their own social group. Biological exogamy is marriage of nonblood-related beings, regulated by forms of incest law. matrilocal In India, for example, people looking for a partner are pressured to towards endogamous marriage, to someone from within the same caste. As long as families have daughters and the daughters marry, every family will receive bride price and pay out bride price when their sons marry. This restriction is prevalent in the Munda and other tribes of Chhota Nagpur of Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, as humans began to rely more on hunting, baby-tending and subsistence became increasingly incompatible. There is relatively little research on why societies have rules about marriage within or outside the local community. And, in both cases, males were frequently absent. The children of siblings of the opposite gender (i.e., the children of a woman and her brother are cross-cousins to each other). The Komachi, pastoral nomads of southern Iran, preferred marriage with kin who were no more distant than second cousins and about 70% were with first cousins (Bradburd 1990, 115). Obviously, women can have children without being married, but unmarried women generally face greater economic difficulties when trying to raise children. 1990. Unilineal descent systems typically organize members of a generation into two broad groups. In moderation, this benefits the offspring as it reduces the risk of the offspring inheriting two copies of a defective gene. Extramarital sex or reproductive issues as grounds for divorce (Frayser 1985). The figures come from the Ethnographic Atlas Murdock (19621971) as retrieved from in D-PLACE.org (Kirby et al. Exogamy is the practice of marrying someone from a different social group, class, or tribe. Explore some texts and do some comparisons using theeHRAF World Culturesdatabase. In such a situation it becomes interesting to differentiate between the close kin and the descent or lineage. As discussed in the sexuality module, homosexual behavior, even if common, often coexists with heterosexual marriage practices. 1972. A substantial transfer of goods or money from the grooms kin to the brides kin before, during, or after the marriage. Decrease in hereditary diseases and birth defects due to a highly diverse gene pool. exogamy, also called out-marriage, custom enjoining marriage outside ones own group. Whiting, John W. M., and Beatrice B. Whiting. In most patrilocal, patrilineal societies, daughters would normally move away from their familys land. 1962. Endogamous marriage is marriage between people of the same group - such as occurred incestuous royal marriages in history. It is often called out-marriage due to the importance of looking outside one's group. In some parts of the world, arranged marriages are still common, and exogamy is often seen as a way to prevent families from being too closely related to each other. Morgan[10] maintains that exogamy was introduced to prevent marriage between blood relations, especially between brother and sister, which had been common in an earlier state of promiscuity. Equal exchanges between kin groups also occur. It does not create economic inequality between families. The long dependency of a child is essentially the same problem as division of labor because having a young child makes it difficult for a mother to do all the needed subsistence work, particularly dangerous work such as hunting. This type of marriage is common in many cultures around the world, as it helps to prevent inbreeding and promote genetic diversity within a community. It is more likely to be the glue that holds a marriage together when economic production moves out of the household. Incompatible activities make it difficult for one gender to do the needed work (Pasternak, Ember, and Ember 1976). If one person has a faulty gene, breeding outside his group increases the chances that his partner will have another functional type gene and their child may not suffer the defect. 2016. It is important to note that the inability to have a child is often a function of a particular couples inability to have a child as a couple, not necessarily the inherent inability of a particular spouse to have a child. In many exogamous cultures, cross-cousins are viewed as ideal marriage partners. necropolis marriage Coult, Allan D., and Robert W. Habenstein. Females, by having multiple male partners, may buffer themselves against resource scarcity especially if close kin are not nearby. See more. This finding is consistent with anecdotal evidence that arranged marriage customs tend to break down with modernization. Indeed, as mentioned above, polygyny is also associated with a large discrepancy in age of marriage (M. Ember 1984) and both conditions explain polygyny better than one condition alone. That marriage in which all the blood relatives and members of the same kinship are prohibited to marry one another. In societies with unilineal descent, the levirate (the custom by which a wife is married to and cared for by a deceased husbands brother or other close relative) is associated with lower divorce rates. Exogamy is usually defined through kinship rather than ethnicity, religion, or class. Second, the relationship appears stronger in societies with simpler forms of agriculture (Osmond 1965). Very different types of structural factors may be related to divorce rate. Exogamy is the practice of marrying outside one's group, clan, or kinship. Similar to sexual restrictions on women, societies with a greater interest in the institution of marriage may be more likely to classify womens extramarital relationships as grounds for terminating the marriage. Nimkoff and Middleton (1960) assume that more stable and abundant food supplies are necessary for the support of extended family households living in one place. Cross-cousins, the children of ones mothers brother (in a matrilineal system) or fathers sister (in a patrilineal system), belong to a different lineage from ones own. Some examples of endogamy include marrying within the family, clan, tribe, and casteor the same social, cultural, religious, or ethnic group. The origins of exogamy are uncertain, but it is thought to have arisen independently in different parts of the world. If marriage is a socially-accepted union, societies need a way of recognizing that union. Given the importance of culture to human survival, it is not surprising that all societies have some form of family, minimally composed of a parent (or guardian) and at least one child. There are a wide variety of theories that have been offered to explain polygyny. The neighboring villagers in the community bring presents for the bride for these three days, and then the grooms paternal aunts engage in a ceremonial fight against the bride with mud, which is blocked by the grooms maternal kin. Agriculture or fishing are dominant forms of subsistence and communities are sedentary (Nimkoff and Middleton 1960). Explaining Human Culture. The hypothesis is not only strongly predictive, but also predicts well in both agricultural and non-agricultural societies. Therefore, reproductively speaking, it is to a mans advantage to marry multiple unrelated women. Alternatively, indirect dowry can be thought of as a combination of bride price paid first and then dowry. Genomic transformation and social organization during the Copper Age-Bronze Age transition in southern . Why? Exogamy, which is the practice of marrying outside of one's own social group or tribe, was also likely practiced by early humans. Founded in 1949 at Yale University, HRAF is a not-for-profit membership consortium of universities, colleges, and research institutions. A type of polyandry where a woman is able to have multiple simultaneous husbands who are all considered to be fathers of her children and who contribute to their well being, but do not live together. Rosenblatt, Paul C., and David Unangst. Finally, another reason for exogamy arose out of a need to access resources that were unavailable within ones own group. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,600],'anthropologyreview_org-medrectangle-3','ezslot_10',615,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-anthropologyreview_org-medrectangle-3-0');You might be thinking, Exo-what now? Dont worry, youre not alone. ethnography Hence, it is more efficient and economical for the man and woman who share the child (or children) to cooperate. A division of labor by gender is a cultural universal and it is proposed that marriage is a way for females and males to productively share the results of their varied subsistence tasks. When you use one ofthese affiliate links,the company compensates us. In tribal societies, the dual exogamy union lasted for many generations, ultimately uniting the groups initially unrelated by blood or language into a single tribe or nation. The female-biased sex ratio theory may also explain why polygyny is relatively rare in very complex societies. Other causes of sex ratio imbalance in favor of females include migration of men for work or trade. Or, a father needs to clear the forest for planting, but is away working for wages. legend While such tests cannot be conducted without variation to study, behavior in other animal species may shed light on these theories. PLoS ONE., Parallel-Cousin (FBD) Marriage, Islamization, and Arabization., Polygyny and Democracy: A Cross-Cultural Comparison., Status of Women, Female Contribution to Subsistence, and Monopolization of Information: Further Cross-Cultural Comparisons., The Structural Implications of Matrilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage., Mate-Selection Systems and Criteria: Variation according to Family Structure., Marriage Systems and Pathogen Stress in Human Societies., Explaining marriage patterns in a globally representative sample through socio-ecology and population history: A Bayesian phylogenetic analysis using a new supertree., Cultural Patterning of Sexual Beliefs and Behavior., WifeHusband Intimacy and Female Status in Cross-Cultural Perspective., Romantic Love and Family Organization: A Case for Romantic Love as a Biosocial Universal., Ethnographic Atlas, Installments i-Xxvii., Toward Monogamy: A Cross-Cultural Study of Correlates of Type of Marriage., On the Conditions Favoring Extended Family Households., Evolutionary ecology of human pair-bonds : Cross-cultural tests of alternative hypotheses., Divorce for childlessness and the regulation of adultery., Correction to: Greater wealth inequality, less polygyny: rethinking the polygyny threshold model., Marriage Transactions: Labor, Property, Status., Extracted-food resource-defense polygyny in native western north American Societies at contact., Evolutionary History of Hunter-Gatherer Marriage Practices., Causes of Polygyny: Ecology, Economy, Kinship, and Warfare., Effects of climate on certain cultural practices., Aloofness and Intimacy of Husbands and Wives: A Cross-Cultural Study., Customs Regarding Whom One Can or Cannot Marry. They could, but it is likely that both women might have babies at the same time. Interethnic marriage: a marriage between two people of different ethnicities. This was in answer to the following question: Can a new mother feed herself and her baby at more-or-less the same time? Exogamy implies the practice of marrying outside of one's own group. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[320,100],'anthropologyreview_org-leader-4','ezslot_9',146,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-anthropologyreview_org-leader-4-0');Ethnic exogamy is when individuals marry outside of their own ethnic group. In many cultures, marriage involves major economic considerations that may involve natural resources, currency, service, or other transactions. Their main findings are. When one marries outside of a social group, it is called exogamy. According to this theory, groups that engaged in exogamy would flourish, while those that did not would all die, either literally or because they lacked sufficient ties for cultural and economic exchange, leaving them at a disadvantage. Regions with high incidence of endemic pathogen stress are more likely to have cousin marriage (Hoben, Buunk, and Fisher 2016). Polyandry has two variations: formal and informal. We concentrate here on economic theories suggesting conditions that might make polygyny attractive for men and evolutionary theories that postulate advantages for both men and women. exogamy, also called out-marriage, custom enjoining marriage outside one's own group. 2011. Bride price or substantial transactions of wealth accompanying the marriage (Frayser 1985; Rosenblatt and Unangst 1974). 2019. 25 chapters | [citation needed] If a cousin marriage has accrued in a known ancestral tree of a person, in historical time, it is referred to as pedigree collapse. See: formal polyandry and informal polyandry. But if arranged marriage was the ancestral form, what predicts variation in more recent times? Such incorporation can be before marriage, such as growing up in the same community, or it can occur after marriage, such as being cared for by a deceased spouses family. anthropology dictionary First, one would think there would be more conflict with limited breeding seasons. But recognition does not necessarily mean an elaborate ceremony. Walker, Robert S., Kim Hill, Mark V. Flinn, and Ryan M. Ellsworth. There are a couple of known exceptions to the claim that marriage is a universal custom. 2) Subsiding of romantic love. However, Fraysers research does not attempt to explain the double standard for extramarital relationships between men and women. Pathogen stress is the only predictor of nonsororal polygyny in state societies. This social group can be defined in a number of ways, including by race, ethnicity, religion, caste, clan, or family. Note that bride price transfers wealth horizontally within the parental generation. However, in modern times it has become more common for people of different religions to marry one another. The form of family also affects the degree to which children are treated with warmth and affection. The marriage would be practiced outside one's group, class or caste. Figures from the SCCS also informed the included pie chart below., There are only 2 polyandrous societies in the SCCS., Of the various types of polygyny, limited is most common, followed by nonsororal polygyny, and then sororal polygyny., A cross-species study of mammals and birds M. Ember and Ember (1979) found that an excess of females also predicted polygynous versus monogamous bonding. What might explain why matrilocal societies generally lack substantial transactions to the grooms kin in contrast to considerable transactions to the wifes kin with patrilocality? Finally, the sexual competition argument points to the greater conflict among human males as compared to non-human primates. Why? Updates? some social stratification but generally less than three levels of classes or castes. This would result in a patchwork of small plots of land controlled by different groups. Note that the relationship between pathogen stress, although significant, is very weak. Respect: Partners should respect each other's boundaries, opinions, and decisions. Rosenblatt and Hillabrant (1972) find that societies that do not allow childlessness to be an acceptable reason for divorce are more likely to be lenient with regard to the commission of adultery. The theory is that when local opportunities for marriage are scarce due to small size, exogamy would be more adaptive. dance Finally, the degree to which spouses choose their marriage partners may help us understand divorce rates. 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