Men’s status and reproductive success in 33 nonindustrial societies: Effects of subsistence, marriage system, and reproductive strategy

Abstract

Social status motivates much of human behavior. However, status may have been a relatively weak target of selection for much of human evolution if ancestral foragers tended to be more egalitarian. We test the "egalitarianism hypothesis" that status has a significantly smaller effect on reproductive success (RS) in foragers compared with nonforagers. We also test between alternative male reproductive strategies, in particular whether reproductive benefits of status are due to lower offspring mortality (parental investment) or increased fertility (mating effort). We performed a phylogenetic multilevel metaanalysis of 288 statistical associations between measures of male status (physical formidability, hunting ability, material wealth, political influence) and RS (mating success, wife quality, fertility, offspring mortality, and number of surviving offspring) from 46 studies in 33 nonindustrial societies. We found a significant overall effect of status on RS (r = 0.19), though this effect was significantly lower than for nonhuman primates (r = 0.80). There was substantial variation due to marriage system and measure of RS, in particular status associated with offspring mortality only in polygynous societies (r = −0.08), and with wife quality only in monogamous societies (r = 0.15). However, the effects of status on RS did not differ significantly by status measure or subsistence type: foraging, horticulture, pastoralism, and agriculture. These results suggest that traits that facilitate status acquisition were not subject to substantially greater selection with domestication of plants and animals, and are part of reproductive strategies that enhance fertility more than offspring well-being.status | hierarchy | reproduction | egalitarianism | evolution

Status effects on men's reproductive success

“…, it does match the generalization that many authors have made, as reviewed in the von Rueden and Jaeggi article (4), that our species exhibits much less reproductive skew than our primate relatives, and supports the common inference that hypersociality in our lineage has transformed (but not eliminated) the dominance system characteristic of higher primates. von Rueden and Jaeggi (4) conclude that because huntergatherers do not differ from societies with other subsistence modes in degree of status-RS association, "positive selection for traits that facilitate status acquisition (including men's motivation to seek it) did not increase substantially when foragers began domesticating plants and animals" (4).…”

Mothers' and fathers' joint profiles for testosterone and oxytocin in a small‐scale fishing‐farming community: Variation based on marital conflict and paternal contributions

“…In this model, elevated OT during socially salient conditions serves to activate mentalizing networks to enhance social cognition, which can lead to social reward (e.g., in bonded relationships) or heightened anxiety (e.g., in unresolved interpersonal conflict). It is well characterized that in small-scale societies men who are very successful at securing resources often earn social status in their communities (von Rueden & Jaeggi, 2016); thus, given the social reward of acquired status (von Rueden & Jaeggi, 2016), such fathers could plausibly have elevated OT, based on some psychobiological frameworks (Bartz et al, 2011;Bethlehem et al, 2014;Crespi, 2016).…”

Content, cost, and context: A framework for understanding human signaling systems

“…In this work, signaling theory has largely been used to explain three broad types of behavior: (a) the pursuit of risky resources, especially when the resources are widely shared (Box B); (b) contribution to a public good, as with blood donation (Box C); and (c) religious behaviors that entail sizable investments of time, money, and energy in the name of the divine (Box A). Empirical investigations have suggested that signals result in improved status and reputational standing, leading to increased social support and well‐being, and ultimately reproductive success …”

“…Empirical investigations have suggested that signals result in improved status and reputational standing, 25 leading to increased social support and wellbeing, 11,14,19,21,22,27 and ultimately reproductive success. [29][30][31] Behavioral ecologists have continued to develop and refine signaling theory since its introduction to anthropology in the late 1990s.…”