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Polyfidelity (also sometimes called Polyexclusivity) means the marriage of two or more women with two or more men. Here, the husbands are common husbands and wives are common wives and they all together form a single family unit and all members of the marriage share parental responsibility for any children arising from the marriage that is children are regarded as the children of the entire group as a whole. Some of the tribes in Australia, India, Tibet and Ceylon are believed to have practiced group marriage. Practitioners of Group marriage hold that:
“The human heart is capable of loving any number of times and any number of persons. This is the law of nature. There is no occasion to find fault with it. Variety is in the nature of things, as beautiful and as useful in love as in eating and drinking . . . . We need love as much as we need food and clothing, and God knows it; and if we trust Him for those things, why not for love?”
(Quoted in Parker, R. (1935). Yankee Saint: John Humphrey Noyes and the OneidaCommunity. New York: Putnam.182-183)
The reasons for origin and prevalence of polyfidelity, as well as its extinction, atleast, in India are the sum collective of reasons behind the origin/prevalence and decline of polygamy in India.
Implications of monogamous and polygamous marriage:
Several studies have been conducted to assess the implications of monogamous and polygamous marriage on marital relations, family functioning and health of wives and children. Some of very important findings are as follows:
- Graham, J. R. and Krenawi, A. A. (2008) indicated that women in polygamous marriages had significantly higher psychological distress, and higher levels of somatisation, phobia and other psychological problems. They also had significantly more problems in family functioning, marital relationships and life satisfaction. (A comparison of family functioning, life and marital satisfaction, and mental health of women in polygamous and monogamous marriages. The Journal of Social Psychology. Volume 148, Number 6 )
- Krenawi, A. A. and Vered, S. N. (2006) reported that children from polygynous families had more mental health and social difficulties as well as poorer school achievement and poorer relationships with their fathers than did their counterparts from monogamous families. In addition, the children from polygynous families rated their families’ functioning and economic status as poorer than did those of monogamous families. Thus, the authors suggest that a polygynous family structure negatively affects the family’s socioeconomic status and interpersonal relationships and impairs the children’s psychological and social functioning (Psychosocial and familial functioning of children from polygynous and monogamous Families. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Vol. 52, No. 1, 5-17pp.).
- Lightman, E. S. and Krenawi, A. A. (2000) compared learning achievement, social adjustment, and family conflict among 146 Bedouin-Arab students from polygamous and monogamous families. Study reveals that children from monogamous families had higher levels of learning achievement, and they adjusted better to the school framework. The mean conflict rating was higher for children from polygamous families (Learning achievement, social adjustment and family conflict among Bedouin-Arab Children from polygamous and monogamous families. Journal of Social Psychology, Vol.140, No.3, 345-55 pp.).
It can be concluded from the above findings that monogamous marriage is the ideal option for the marriage partners, children and the family as a whole.
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