A recent article published in the PNAS has shed light on one of the possible reasons for the evolution of religion in patriarchal societies. The study by Strassmann et al was conducted using data from father-son pairs taken from the Dogon, a traditional African population where Traditional religion, Islam and Christianity are all practised. They found that the Traditional religion had the lowest instances of cuckoldry (1.3%) and that Christianity had the highest (2.9%). These differences were statistically significant. The incidence of cuckoldry in those who practise Islam was not found to be significantly different to that of those who followed the Traditional religion. The authors suggest that the use of menstrual huts, in Traditional religion, and enforced notification to husband of menstruation, in Islam, maintain the honesty of when females are fertile. This honesty allows patrilineages to maintain vigilance and prevent cuckoldry.
The study therefore sheds light on how religion, using mechanism to maintain female honesty (enforced through concepts of devine retribution/damnation) can benefit males through paternity certainty. This looks to be a novel study investigating human society and culture in a way that seeks to understand it from an evolutionary point of view.
link to PNAS article
The study therefore sheds light on how religion, using mechanism to maintain female honesty (enforced through concepts of devine retribution/damnation) can benefit males through paternity certainty. This looks to be a novel study investigating human society and culture in a way that seeks to understand it from an evolutionary point of view.
link to PNAS article
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