![]() ![]() Of course, hypergamy isn't just some harmless byproduct of evolutionary biology. “Attractiveness, in this context, means that these women show signs of health, youth, and fertility.” That’s why many men will marry down in social class for someone with superior looks. "Men want a woman who they find attractive, and there’s an evolutionary underpinning (in part) to what men deem attractive,” says Fisher. ![]() She says men marry up, too, although researchers tend to observe it in different ways. Having social clout can be enough to provide these resources too, which is why hypergamy includes class and status. Money, however, isn’t the only way to achieve these things. Even though women are now as educated as men, especially younger generations, researcher Yue Qian noted "the tendency for women to marry men with higher incomes than themselves persisted.” Even women who married a man of a lower education level still married a man who made a higher income.įisher says women may gravitate toward men with money so they can provide better food, healthcare, protection, and education for their children. A widely-cited 2016 paper explored the income difference between couples in 19. $15 at Men's Health Shop Credit: Men's HealthĪnthropological research indicates hypergamy still happens today-even if watering holes are largely out of the equation. A man with resources is better suited to help you raise your children,” Fisher explains. At the dawn of human history, it was clear why women engaged in hypergamy: “Hundreds of thousands of years ago, you wanted a man who had more resources, land, or his own watering hole. Marrying someone just because they're rich might seem shallow or unethical, but Fisher says it's evolutionarily adaptive to engage in hypergamy, because it increases the likelihood that you’ll have children who live long enough to reproduce. Helen Fisher, chief science advisor at Match. Today, the term is used in anthropological discourse and pertains to all societies and cultures, says Dr. That’s also why when you look at the definition of hypergamy on, it defines the word as “the practice among Hindu women of marrying into a caste at least as high as their own.” marrying down)-was coined in the 19th century when translating classical Hindu law books from Sanskrit to English. The term along, with its inverse, hypogamy-which means marrying someone of a lower social class or status (a.k.a. The word, which in essence means “marrying up,” actually stems from Hindu tradition, according to The Structure of Indian Society: Then and Now. This practice is known as hypergamy, and we're here to tell you what it means. But some folks actively seek out partners of a higher socioeconomic or social class (i.e., partners who are rich and powerful). ![]() Most of us want someone who’s smart, funny, and attractive, just to name a few. We all have a list of qualities that we look for in a potential partner. ![]()
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