Towards a New Theory of the Origin of the Family [and Comments and Reply]

Abstract

The emergence of the monogamous family in human societies is not satisfactorily explained by traditional theories of its "natural" character or economic origins. This paper proposes a new theory based on sociobiological studies of altruism, a behaviour well-known in man and nonhuman primates. The starting point is the evolution of altruism, a behaviour which increases the chance of survival of the recipient at some cost to the performer. Altruism can evolve if directed towards close relatives: though the altruist may die because of an altruistic deed, the genes identical to his own by common descent which are present in his relatives in proportion to their coefficient of relationship have an increased chance of survival owing to his behaviour. It is evident that altruism evolves more easily when the coefficient of relationship is higher. This coefficient is much higher in a polygamous family than in a promiscuous group and much higher in a monogamous family than in a polygamous one. If we consider the importance of altruism as the basis of social cooperation, we can understand why polygamy prevailed over promiscuity and monogamy over polygamy, except where the environment was particularly propitious to the latter. New hypotheses on polygyny, exogamy, the incest taboo, and some forms of preferential or prescriptive marriage are also presented.

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