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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–7Cite as

Polygyny Threshold, The

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Synonyms

Female choice polygyny; Resource-defense polygyny

Definition

The polygyny threshold model (PTM) provides an explanation for the occurrence of polygyny in the animal kingdom – the mating/marriage of one male with multiple females. This model is principally applied to species, including humans, in which males provide/defend resources to provision their mates and offspring. The polygyny threshold refers to the minimum level of inequality in male resource holding, such that a given female’s reproductive success is enhanced by becoming the second mate of a resource-rich and already paired male, rather than the sole mate of a resource-poor unpaired male. Once this threshold is surpassed and there is sufficient inequality, polygyny is predicted to occur.

Introduction

Understanding the determinants of mating and marriage systems is vital to a complete understanding of humanity, since they have been demonstrated to have knock on effects at many levels of society. These tenants of...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College London, London, UK

    Nikhil Chaudhary

Authors
  1. Nikhil Chaudhary
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Correspondence to Nikhil Chaudhary .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

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Chaudhary, N. (2016). Polygyny Threshold, The. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2565-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2565-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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