Walker, Robert S., Kim Hill, Mark V. Flinn, and Ryan M. Ellsworth. Almost all societies also have the custom of marriage, so a marriage partner is usually part of the basic family unit. Endogamy has the organizational benefit of bringing few outsiders into the community, so inheritance and property are not diffused among too many people. low emphasis on love as a basis for marriage (Hull 1989). Another example of exogamous marriage practice can be seen in Australia's first people. Some studies have not found support for the sex ratio theory, but measures of polygyny were different (Hooper 2006; Quinlan and Quinlan 2007) or variable was imputed (Minocher, Duda, and Jaeggi 2019).. Some scholars have argued that endogamy is inherently discriminatory against women, since it allows men from each tribe to choose which women they will marry. See: formal polyandry and informal polyandry. Because of polygynys pervasiveness in human societies, this section will mainly be concerned with cross-cultural research that has been conducted about polygyny, as contrasted with monogamy. Australian Aboriginal people live in family or kin groups. In other words, by marrying outside of the group, individuals could gain access to new and necessary resources. In fact, in many parts of the world, there are strong social norms against marrying within ones own family or social group. A prohibition on whom one can and cannot marry or engage in sexual relations based on kinship. Symmetrical cross-cousin marriage is somewhat more likely when economic transactions at marriage (such as bride price or dowry) are absent. However, it is important to understand that even where polygyny is generally practiced most men will not have more than one wife at any given point in time. M. Ember (1984) notes that both a high male mortality in warfare combined with a discrepancy in age of marriage predict general polygyny more strongly than either condition alone. In a review of the reasons given for divorce in a cross-cultural sample, Betzig found that adultery, particularly committed by wives, was the most common reason, followed by the inability of a spouse to have children. Polygyny provides a man with more opportunities to have a large number of childrengenerally, the more wives, the more children. According to a survey 83% people practice exogamy in these tribes. These are most often the locus of exogamy; marrying a member of ones own clan or moiety typically constitutes a form of incest. What about brothers? Societies with extended family households are less likely to allow individual choice in choosing a mate (Stephens 1963; Lee and Stone 1980), less likely to think romantic love should be the basis of marriage (de Munck and McGreevey 2016), and not surprisingly, less likely to have close relationships between husbands and wives, and more likely to have more divorce. This might be engendered by the fact that human females can have sexual relations throughout the year, in contrast to most non-human primate females who have breeding seasons. 1. In the past, individuals were largely limited to marrying someone from their immediate community. - Definition & History, Cultural Diversity Issues in the Criminal Justice System, Working Scholars Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. Manage Settings [19] It is also used to describe families in Atlantic Canada with a Francophone and an Anglophone parent. Exogamy is the practice of marrying outside one's group, clan, or kinship. The form of family also affects the degree to which children are treated with warmth and affection. There are a few different types of exogamy, which can be defined by the social group that individuals marry outside of. Small size communities and greater variation in rainfall (Dow, Reed, and Woodcock 2016). In both cases, not only did male and female sexual partners live separately with their maternal families, but they did not have regular economic cooperation nor other regular obligations with their sexual partners. 1960. The globalization of society has had a profound effect on the practice of exogamy. Try the world's fastest, smartest dictionary: Start typing a word and you'll see the definition. 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. Finally, the sexual competition argument points to the greater conflict among human males as compared to non-human primates. White, Douglas R., and Michael L. Burton. anthropology news There is relatively little known about predictors of rules of exogamy and endogamy, either for the community or for the kin group. Only 31% of societies have full individual choice.2. type of polygyny in which a man is married to two or more women who are not sisters. All rights reserved. In other words, exogamy helps to keep the gene pool fresh. More husband-wife aloofness (Whiting and Whiting 1975; de Munck and Korotayev 2007). Two or more women are married to one man at the same time. Founded in 1949 at Yale University, HRAF is a not-for-profit membership consortium of universities, colleges, and research institutions. Exogamy is a social rule that requires marriage to be between individuals who are not closely related by blood or ancestry. Community exogamy/endogamy. Thus, persons may be expected to marry outside their totem clan(s) or other groups, in addition to outside closer blood relatives. Hopi woman dressing hair of unmarried girl. Genomic transformation and social organization during the Copper Age-Bronze Age transition in southern . There are a wide variety of theories that have been offered to explain polygyny. On the other hand, bride price. When one marries outside of a social group, it is called exogamy. Note that the relationship between pathogen stress, although significant, is very weak. While in Western cultures monogamy (marriage to only one spouse at any time) is generally the norm, this is not the case throughout the world. Research conducted by M. Ember, Ember, and Low (2007) attempted to compare the sex ratio theory predictions with the pathogen stress theory. However, this overall finding comes with some qualifications. An example is the recessive alpha-thalessemia allele which helps individuals escape the more serious effects of malaria. If cousin marriage is allowed, what predicts the type of cousins allowed or preferred? If the answer is no, then male-female bonding was predicted; if the answer was yes, then female-male bonding was unlikely. Mandatory marriage within one's own group is known as endogamy. Edvard Westermarck said an aversion to marriage between blood relatives or near kin emerged with a parental deterrence of incest. 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. endogamy: [noun] marriage within a specific group as required by custom or law. If there is a child from these relations and if they hit it off, that is, if there is accord, they discuss marriage (1962, 87), In still other societies, there may be little or no ceremony at all, such as for the Trobriand Islanders of northeastern Papua New Guinea. Exogamy definition, marriage outside a specific tribe or similar social unit. Lee, Gary R., and Lorene Hemhill Stone. Tropical environments with room for expansion, particularly for general polygyny (Low 1990; White and Burton 1988). 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Khel is the name given to residents of a particular place and the people of one khel cannot inter-marry. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In this module, we concentrate on marriage and family customs involving at least one man and one woman because although homosexual behavior is not rare, same-sex marriage is rare cross-culturally. He said that a people had religious respect for the blood of a totemic clan, for the clan totem is a god and is present especially in the blood, a sacred substance. Ember, Carol R., Melvin Ember, and Peter N. Peregrine. Note that bride price transfers wealth horizontally within the parental generation. To be an extended family household, members need not live in the same dwelling. Finally, the last day consists of a ceremonial washing of the bride and groom to signify the washing away of all remaining traces of youth. The washing is followed by the couples hair being tied into a single knot (Geertz and Lomatuway 1987). The hypothesis is not only strongly predictive, but also predicts well in both agricultural and non-agricultural societies. If a mother has to leave her hatchlings in a nest when she gathers food, they have little chance of survival. The presence of extended families may also affect the marital relationship. The opposite of exogamy is endogamy. Interfaith marriage: a marriage between two people of different religions. Exogamy is a widely practiced marriage custom whereby individuals marry outside of their social group. Huber, Brad R., William F. Danaher, and William L. Breedlove. Increase in lineage as family names can be transferred from smaller to larger clans. In social science, exogamy is viewed as a combination of two related aspects: biological and cultural. Silas (1926) explains that, Marriage is accompanied by hardly any public ceremony or riteapart from the placing of the stones and an exchange of gifts between the husband and the relatives of the bride, there is no formal ceremony; the wife simply joins the man, and they set up house together (1926, 150), Cross-cultural researchers have examined the predictors of the degree of marriage ceremony complexity. An increase in kinship relationships (the bond of being related). Confinement of womens reproductive potential to one man (Frayser 1985). Equal exchanges between kin groups also occur. Such lineages may in turn be grouped into clans or moieties. According to Folsom, endogamous is the rule that one must marry within ones caste or group". Among the societies with more elaborate ceremonies are the Hopi, of the U.S. Southwest, who practice a wedding ceremony that lasts four days. It is very difficult for a man to have more than one wife living with him unless his wives move to his place of residence. 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. But since women in the Arab Khalifate region are typically secluded, women would be unlikely to be able to cultivate their portion of land, leaving it to be controlled by her husband. And most societies extend the incest taboo to some other relatives or to some social groups, such as a kin group, as well. 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