Yup. So what sort of data could either support or make unlikely a 50% cuckoldry rate among ancestral societies? I’m not sure that even a genetic study would give good answers, so we may have to go with indirect evidence.
What’s the cuckoldry rate now? Ooh, I found a blog post on it by Razib Kahn (just by googling “cuckoldry,” actually). He also links to a paper that finds a bit of a decrease in “nonpaternity rates,” and attributes it to widespread birth control (makes sense).
Here is a list of paternity studies. The best study is the modern German study because there was very little selection bias. But there are several surname studies showing <2% nonpaternity rates over centuries. Unfortunately the list lacks citations, though there are some in the comments.
Yup. So what sort of data could either support or make unlikely a 50% cuckoldry rate among ancestral societies? I’m not sure that even a genetic study would give good answers, so we may have to go with indirect evidence.
What’s the cuckoldry rate now? Ooh, I found a blog post on it by Razib Kahn (just by googling “cuckoldry,” actually). He also links to a paper that finds a bit of a decrease in “nonpaternity rates,” and attributes it to widespread birth control (makes sense).
Here is a list of paternity studies. The best study is the modern German study because there was very little selection bias. But there are several surname studies showing <2% nonpaternity rates over centuries. Unfortunately the list lacks citations, though there are some in the comments.
Thanks for the Khan link. I’d heard a 10% cuckoldry rate myself, but he’s got evidence that it’s more like 1.5% to 5%.
How would you balance cuckoldry compared to other factors like getting killed? What are the rates of sterility for men vs. women in various eras?