Polygyny produces especially unstable societies because it creates competition among males looking for partners, thus undermining male solidarity and, in many cases, necessitating a more authoritarian style of governance.

Why polygamy is a problem?

According to the information I have helped to collect in the Womanstats database, women in polygynous communities get married younger, have more children, have higher rates of HIV infection than men, sustain more domestic violence, succumb to more female genital mutilation and sex trafficking, and are more likely to

What is the effect of polygamy?

Individual studies report a higher prevalence of somatization, depression, anxiety, hostility, psychoticism and psychiatric disorder in polygynous wives as well as reduced life and marital satisfaction, problematic family functioning and low self-esteem.