Study: Monogamists With More Than One Spouse May Become Polygamists
According to a National Institutes of Health study, monogamists who are married to more than one spouse at a time have a significantly greater chance of becoming polygamists than those who remain married to only one person. âThe key factor seems to be simultaneity,â said Bruce Rivers, an socio-anthropologist who authored the NIH report. âThose who have one spouse, divorce that spouse, and then take another, tend to remain monogamous. However, those who retain one spouse and decide to marry again â to have, in effect, two or more spouses â have a much greater chance of becoming polygamists.â Rivers said he could not explain his findings, which were based on nearly 2,000 hours of research with a dictionary, although he theorized it could be related to diet, exercise, or climate.