Synonyms
Definition
Commitment and marriage are human behaviors that occur in the context of family formation, sexual fidelity and cohabitation.
Introduction
There are a number of benefits of pair-bonding and sexual commitment, which may have favored the evolution of monogamous and polygynous marriage systems: (1) marriage enables mate guarding, which, for men, helps to ensure paternity of the children that they commit to rearing and for women secures the resources, protection, and labor of a man; (2) pair-bonding enables reciprocal division of labor in the rearing of children, thereby optimizing the investment of parental care by each sex; (3) sexual intercourse is a powerful route for transmission of disease, which has selected against promiscuity and favored having one or a few sexual partners; (4) pair-bonding enables a reciprocal care relationship, which promotes good health and longevity.
Why Marriage?
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References
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Gellatly, C. (2018). Benefits of Commitment and Marriage. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_222-1
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