Research Suggests Polygamous Men Live Longer

Calopteryx writes "Want to live a little longer? Get a second wife. A study reported in New Scientist suggests that men from polygamous cultures outlive those from monogamous ones. After accounting for socioeconomic differences, men aged over 60 from 140 countries that practice polygamy to varying degrees lived on average 12% longer than men from 49 mostly monogamous nations."

Comments

You have a big problem here.

[Estanislao Mart�nez]

Read the summary of the study's conclusion again. What the study claims to demonstrate isn't that polygamists live longer than other men in their own society; what it demonstrates is that in societies where a minority of the men have multiple wives, the mean longevity of all men is longer.

Note the following two things that follow from this:

1. It hasn't been demonstrated that the extra mean longevity in the population as a whole is due to the extra longevity of the polygamists. Nobody's gonna be surprised if more research shows that is the case, but let's not get ahead of ourselves
2. Far more importantly, if it is indeed the case that the small number of polygamists truly does push up the average life expectancy of the whole community, this means that the men who don't have multiple wives aren't pulling it down.

The second point I just made is at odds with what you're telling us here:

On the flipside, look at the polygamist societies - in Middle Eastern/African muslim societies, those who aren't going to reach 60 (read: the poor) usually kill themselves off FAR faster in various tribal conflicts and wars.

For this to be consistent with the results of the study, the negative effect of such early deaths on average longevity must be smaller than the positive effect that the polygamists have on the same statistic. Which suggests you're totally overblowing this by reasoning on the basis of stereotypes.

Excuse me, but your prejudice is showing

[Chicken_Kickers]

WTF dude? Your sweeping statements of Middle Eastern MOOSLIMS smacks of something Colbert would say. Really, do you think places that practice polygamy are Mad Maxesque Thunderdome x10 where all young Muslim males go in and only one comes out at 60? I never understood the "Western" world's view on polygamy. You're okay with teenagers sleeping around, you're okay with married people sleeping around (as glamorised by your insipid soap operas) but apparently not polygamy? In Islamic countries, polygamy is allowed but usually on several conditions and is highly regulated.

1. You must have enough money (courts usually demand proof). In some countries, applications can be denied because of lack of money.
2. You must be as fair as humanly possible to the wives, even so far as the amount of time spent with them (the wives can complain to the courts)
3. In some countries, you have to get the first wive's consent
4. Legally, all of the wives have equal rights to your money and assets. If you buy a car for one, you have to buy a car for all of them.
5. All of the children sired are the husband's responsibility. You are required by law to protect, feed, house, educate them until they are adults. There are no difference in status of children from different wives

It is for these reasons, especially for reason number 2, which 'fundementalist' Muslims believe is the quickest route to hell should you screw up that polygamy is actually not that widely practised in proportion to just having one spouse. Now, compare this to the de facto polygamy that is practised in the Western world and see who is mysogynistic.