Material Resource Investments at the Time of Marriage: Biological, Social,

and Ecological Perspectives

By Brad R. Huber

Presented at the 41st annual meetings of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research (SCCR),

February 20-25, 2013, Mobile, Alabama.

Data Collection:

• Data on first marriages in rural settings.

• The most common type of marriage

• HRAF Probability Sample (60 Societies from Around the World)

Figure 1. Frequency of m arriage tran sactions in the H R A F prob ability sam ple (n = 59)

• Eleven (11) different types of marriage transactions were identified.

• Bride Wealth, for example, is when the groom, groom's parents, or groom's relatives make a non-food, material transfer to the bride's parents or relatives.

• For each type, I calculated the amount of material resources individuals:

• Provide• Receive

Net Level of Marriage Investment

• the net amount of material resources that the bride and groom, and both sets of parents accrue or expend at the time of marriage.

the investment received- the investment provided

net marriage investment level

• Net investment scores can be positive or negative. • A negative score, for example, means that an

individual provided a greater amount of resources than he or she received.

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Independent Variables

Paternal Certainty Level based on four items: (a) frequency of premarital(b) frequency of extramarital sex(c) strength of the sanctions against premarital, and(d) extramarital sex.

Each scored from 1 to 5Scores can range from 4 to 20, with 20 representing very high paternal certainty.

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Polygyny Rate. The polygyny rate variable is Douglas White’s Standard Polygamy code.

Scores for this variable can range from:

• 0 to 4, with 4 representing

• “20% or more of married males” in a polygynous marriage.

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Pathogen Stress. The level of pathogen stress was coded by Bobbi Low (1988).

• A total of seven pathogens (leishmanias, trypanosomes, malaria, schistosomes, filariae, spirochetes, and leprosy)

• were each rated on a 3-point scale for frequency

The individual scores were summed for a total pathogen stress score.

Relative Marriage Age

The author coded the women’s and men’s mean age at the time of their first marriage.

Some ethnographers report average first marriage ages but most specify an age range for men’s and women’s first marriages, e.g., 14-15 years old.

Divorce Rate

• Originally coded by Broude & Greene (1983) for the 186 societies of the SCCS. • 40 societies are found in both SCCS and the 60 society HRAF probability sample. • The author coded the remaining societies of the probability sample, and • Reversed Broude & Greene’s original values such that they range from “1” to “5”, • Where “5” indicates divorce is “universal or almost universal”.

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Predictions:• Polygyny Rate• Pathogen Stress• Relative Ages of Spouses• Paternal Certainty

• Negatively Correlated with Groom’s and Groom’s Parents’ Net Investment

• Positively Correlated with Bride’s and Bride’s Parents’ Net Investment

• Divorce Rate: Correlated; Direction ???

Table 4; The Bivariate and Partial Correlations of the Predictors with Groom’s Net Investment

PredictorsBivariate Correlation

Partial Correlation

Divorce Rate -.16 -.01

Polygyny Rate -.59** -.55**

Pathogen Stress -.21 .04

Relative Ages of Spouses -.33* -.22

Paternal Certainty .07 .11

Multiple Regression Analyses

Table 5

The Bivariate and Partial Correlations of the Predictors with Groom’s Parents’ Net Investment

PredictorsBivariate Correlation

Partial Correlation

Divorce Rate .10 .05

Polygyny Rate .18 .37*

Pathogen Stress -.23 -.28

Relative Ages of Spouses -.04 -.16

Paternal Certainty -.50** -.53**

Table 6

The Bivariate and Partial Correlations of the Predictors with Bride’s Net Investment

PredictorsBivariate Correlation

Partial Correlation

Divorce Rate .08 .15

Polygyny Rate -.26 -.48**

Pathogen Stress .32* .43*

Relative Ages of Spouses -.03 -.01

Paternal Certainty .35* .41*

Table 7

The Bivariate and Partial Correlations of the Predictors with Bride’s Parents’ Net Investment

PredictorsBivariate Correlation

Partial Correlation

Divorce Rate .12 -.11

Polygyny Rate .57** .60**

Pathogen Stress .20 .06

Relative Ages of Spouses .20 -.01

Paternal Certainty -.31* -.45*