The relationship between serial monogamy and rape in the United States (1960–1995)

In mating systems where individuals pair, separate and re-pair repeatedly (i.e. serial monogamy), some males monopolize more than one female's reproductive life span and thus leave other males effectively mateless. Males who cannot secure females through traditional methods may seek alternative...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2000-06, Vol.267 (1449), p.1259-1263
Main Authors: Starks, Philip T., Blackie, Caroline A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative Reproductive Tactics
Behavioural Plasticity
Divorce
Divorce - trends
Divorce rates
Evolution
Female
Homo sapiens
Humans
Male
Mating behavior
Monogamy
Pregnancy
Rape
Rape - statistics & numerical data
Remarriage
Reproduction
Reproductive success
serial monogamy
Sexual Behavior - statistics & numerical data
Statistical variance
United States
USA
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Summary:In mating systems where individuals pair, separate and re-pair repeatedly (i.e. serial monogamy), some males monopolize more than one female's reproductive life span and thus leave other males effectively mateless. Males who cannot secure females through traditional methods may seek alternatives, such as rape, to ensure gene passage into future generations. Analysis of US government records shows that (i) divorce and remarriage patterns in the United States are likely to increase the variance in male reproductive success, and (ii) rates of divorce and rape correlate positively. The former result suggests that serial monogamy increases the variance in male, relative to female, reproductive success and the latter result suggests that this variance influences the frequency of rape in American society. Because raped females sometimes become pregnant and take these pregnancies to term, our results indicate that rape has current adaptive significance.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2000.1136