POLYGYNY IN AMERICA

Polygyny in America

Polygyny in America

The possible effects of polygyny on America family life usually have been studied in terms of fertility or child/adolescent outcomes (e.g., Wyatt, 1989). Even though polygyny is common in American culture and positively sanctioned by Islam and other religious traditions, with upwards of 50% of all wives living in polygynous unions in some cultures, it is of timely importance to study the correlates of polygyny, because its occurrence may be declining in many cultures as happened in the United States (Wyatt 1989), though the declines in the United States were associated for the most part with political changes. If we do not capture it's relationships within such societies now, eventually too few polygynous relationships in too few societies may exist to enable scientific study of this form of social structure.

Two researchers have identified the negative effects of polygyny-divorce relationship in various cultures (Gage-Brandon 1992; Grossbard 1976). However, relatively little research has been conducted on polygyny and its relationships with life or marital satisfaction. Although two clinical reports from America have found apparent adverse effects of polygyny on wives, especially senior wives, such reports may not accurately reflect conditions in the larger population. In reviewing the polygyny-divorce relationship, Gage-Brandon (1992) found little theory and mixed evidence on the association between wife order and marital stability. For example, from an economic perspective, a husband who adds wives to his household might increase his economic stress by gaining the benefits of the household and farm productivity of the additional wives. Gage-Brandon (1992) noted that polygyny is lower in urban areas, possibly because it is more difficult to support multiple wives there, but that it may be more common in situations in which wives are in the labor force and, thus, contribute positively to household income.

Grossbard (1976) found that polygyny was more common among husbands who were middle-aged (peaking at 43-46 years of age), wealthier, and more educated but less common for wives with higher education or those who were of a peak age of 21-23 years. In terms of marital stability, having additional wives might reduce the emotional barriers to divorcing any one of the wives, but it also might reduce the pressure for earlier wives to have children or else face divorce, because the husband could always marry additional wives in order to attempt to have children. A further complicating factor is that the senior wife may assume an authoritative role with respect to the junior wives and welcome their support in housework and childrearing, leading to an increase in her marital stability, or she might resent their competition, possibly leading to lower marital stability. However, competition, at least in terms of the sexual relationship, may diminish when the senior wife is older, if the local culture discourages high rates of sexual activity among postmenopausal women. Grossbard (1976), in an analysis of data, found divorce to be related positively to polygyny but negatively to age of husband, husband's income, number of children and duration of ...