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On Cultural and Reproductive Success: Kipsigis Evidence
Author(s) -
Mulder Monique Borgerhoff
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1987.89.3.02a00050
Subject(s) - reproductive success , environmental ethics , biology , sociology , psychology , demography , philosophy , population
Studies testing the evolutionary biological prediction that striving for cultural goals is a proximate means of attaining high reproductive success are reviewed, and some of their problems are examined. Recent data from the Kipsigis of Kenya provide robust demonstration that wealth enhances a man's reproductive success. The evolutionary significance of correlations between cultural and reproductive success, and the additional problem of interpreting studies conducted in the rapidly changing environments of modern man, are discussed.