POLYGYNY: FORM AND FREQUENCY Douglas R. White. New Codes (begun in collaboration with John Whiting). Prepared in part under National Science Foundation grant BNS-8507685. See 1988 "Rethinking Polygyny: Co-Wives, Codes and Cultural Systems." Current Anthropology 29:529-571. STDS37.DAT Variables 860 - 878 860. Cultural Basis of Polygyny 2 . = Missing data 27 1 = Monogamy prescribed 32 2 = Monogamy preferred, but exceptional cases of polygyny 45 3 = Polygyny preferred by individual men with leadership attributes (chiefs, medicine men, outstanding hunters) 34 4 = Polygyny preferred by men of a higher social class: men of wealth, rank, nobility, etc. 46 5 = Polygyny preferred by most men, and attained by most men of sufficient years or wealth to obtain wives. Thus: (a) older men usually have more wives; (b) polygyny is generally based on the accumulation of wealth; and (c) extra wives are an economic asset in terms of labor. 861. Standard Polygamy Code: Whyte, Murdock and Wilson, Murdock Atlas 8 . = Missing data 2 0 = Polyandry 27 1 = Monogamy prescribed 33 2 = Monogamy preferred, but exceptional cases of polygyny 56 3 = Limited polygyny < 20% of married males 60 4 = Full polygyny 20% or more of married males 862. Sororal Polygyny NOTE: There is sufficient information for an exclusively non-sororal category, see especially Murdock's Africa (1959). Probably also sufficient for sororal preferred but not predominant. 22 . = Missing data 25 1 = No polygyny (M) 93 2 = Non-sororal polygyny predominant (Atlas PQ) (sororal may or may not be permitted) 36 3 = Sororal or marriage to wife's kin predominant (Atlas RS) 9 4 = Sororal or secondary marriage to wife's kin only 863. Distance between Co-Wives 30 . = Missing data 1 0 = One wife, multiple husbands 25 1 = One wife (Atlas M) 59 2 = Co-residence for multiple wives (Atlas PR) 25 3 = One wife resides with husband, others in separate houses 13 4 = One wife resides with husband, others in separate communities 31 5 = Separate housing in compound for every wife (Atlas QS) 2 6 = Separate housing in village for every wife [as might occur, for example, with men's houses, e.g., Otoro - check] 864. Rooming Arrangement for Wives 6 . = Missing data 130 1 = Wife sleeps in same room with husband 50 2 = Wife sleeps in room apart from husband's room, including cases of men's dormitories or 30% or more polygynously married women if co-wives sleep apart (e.g., Trobriand chiefs' wives constitute circa 39% of the married women) 865. Rooming Arrangement for Husband 7 . = Missing data 141 1 = Husband has no room apart (dominant pattern, e.g., for Trobriand commoners) 38 2 = Husband has a room apart, even if rotates among wives 866. Higher rates of polygyny for men of wealth, rank, nobility, or higher social class. * = merge 1-3: incomplete coding for categories above 1 31 . = Missing data 64 0 = No Stratified polygyny 92 1 = Stratified Polygyny ?10 = Hereditary upper social class (note: incompletely coded) ? 9 = Achieved rank connected with groups (note: incompletely coded) ?73 = Achieved wealth - due to contributions of wives (ditto) 867. Multiple wives for skilled hunters * = merge 1-3: incomplete coding for categories above 1 23 . = Missing data 141 0 = No, or unimportant 22 1 = exceptional skill in hunting 2?- = exceptional skill in cultivation 2?- = exceptional skill in pastoralism (herding) 868. Multiple wives for Leaders, Headmen, Chiefs 24 . = Missing data 95 0 = No, or unimportant 67 1 = Yes, or Leaders have more wives than commoners 869. Multiple wives for Medicine Men or Shamans NOTE: sometimes coded 0 for General polygyny although magicians also polygynous - unclear whether higher polygyny level should be required in this instance for this code 25 . = Missing data 141 0 = No, or unimportant 20 1 = Yes 870. Additional wives or concubines from Slavery or Capture in Warfare NOTE: It is often difficult to distinguish secondary wives taken as slave concubines, or marriage to freed slaves, and wives taken from capture in warfare, as slavery areas often capture slaves 28 . = Missing data 100 0 = No female captives ? 8 1 = Women taken as captives but not married ?58 2 = Captives in war or slaves taken as wives or concubines 871. Percentage of Married Men with More than One Wife 39 . = Missing data 147 = Percentage given 872. Percentage of Married Women Polygynously Married (share husband with one or more co-wives) 41 . = Missing data 145 = Percentage given 873. Reliability of Data for Percentage Polygynously Married 40 . = Missing data 87 1 = Direct percentages: good quantitative data 13 2 = Direct percentages for male polygyny, female polygyny estimated for minimum of two wives per man, where if P = % men married polygynously then Q = 2P / 100+P is the % women married polygynously 2 3 = percentage female polygyny estimated from ratios of men with different numbers of wives, provided by ethnographer 3 4 = lower of two or more censuses used, or estimates where there is some other reason to believe that true percentages are higher for both males and females 23 5 = estimates from 0 to 5% male polygyny inferred from statements about limited polygyny; these are doubled for female percentages (a minimal estimate) 18 6 = uncertain coding 874. Polygyny Data Source 46 . = Missing data 55 1 = Sample of over 100 married men 29 2 = Sample of less than 100 married men, but of an entire settlement 48 3 = Estimate from Ethnographer Statements 8 4 = Estimate by Inference from Ethnographer Statements 875. Date for Polygyny Code 61 . = Missing data 1 11 = 110 AD 1 29 = 1290-99 1 55 = 1550-59 1 63 = 1630-39 2 75 = 1675-79 1 82 = 1820-29 1 83 = 1830-39 2 84 = 1840-49 5 85 = 1850-59 4 86 = 1860-69 4 87 = 1870-79 3 88 = 1880-89 8 89 = 1890-99 4 90 = 1900-09 6 91 = 1910-19 14 92 = 1920-29 25 93 = 1930-39 20 94 = 1940-49 -- 95 = 1950-59 -- 96 = 1960-69 - 97 = 1970-79 876. Polygyny Distributions 135 . = Missing data 26 0 = True Binomial 25 1 = Negative Binomial 877. Polygyny Guttman Scale I: "Co-Wife Autonomy" 5 . = Missing data 69 0 = None of the following 51 1 = Stratified Polygyny (854) only 6 2 = Negative binomial (855), plus above 13 3 = Marriage of female captives (858), plus above 7 4 = General polygyny (849), plus above 9 5 = Rooming apart (853), plus above 26 6 = Polygynous compounds (852), plus above 878. Polygyny Guttman Scale II: "Charismatic" 4 . = Missing data 44 0 = None of the following 72 1 = Rooming together (853) only 26 2 = Co-Wives same dwelling (852), plus above 25 3 = Sororal (851), plus above 9 4 = Polygynous hunters (855), plus above 6 5 = Exclusive sororal polygyny (851), plus above