Do you think that it is human nature to be monogamous?

Question

It seems that there are a lot of people out there that have to work to stay faithful to their mate. Do you think that it is that basic animal need to procreate or do think that it is idividual morals that drive people to cheat?

Answer 1

i think that it is aniimal instinct to procreate with as many partners as possible, both female and male... however, i think circumstances in today's society make it much more preferrable to remain faithful to one partner/family...

the question lies between controlling animal instinct and making rational decisions concerning the well being (financially/emotionally/physically) of a family unit.

I think we as a human society have moved beyond pure animal instinct... but it is still in us all...

Answer 2

As much as I hate it, I have to agree with you.

I think we are probably genetically programmed to stay monogamous for a couple of years at most. For women maybe a bit longer.

From an evolutionary standpoint, it probably made more sense to be monogamous temporarily, procreate and help bring up baby. And after that, go back to the merry go round game of musical chairs.

Unfortunately, morality and society and expectations and way of life are different things from what is inherently programmed into the way we feel.

It is simply not acceptable to be unfaithful. If you are, you incur society's wrath and will find things difficult.

I think it is similar to eating as and when you are hungry or sleeping when you are sleepy. We are probably programmed to eat when hungry. But in real life, meal times are fixed. We eat when it is time to eat. Sleep when it is time to sleep.

It is 1140pm now. I feel like dinner. During dinner time earlier, I felt sleepy and slept instead of eat dinner. I break this eating and sleeping rules all the time because I stay alone most times and don't have to accomodate anyone else.

But when it comes to relationships, I stick to the rules. Because unlike sleep and eating, the consequences involve others. And other people may not take my unorthodox ways too well.

Answer 3

I think human nature is to be monogamous, but then it's down to the individuals morals on whether they cheat or not and circumstances can drive that as well - i guess everyone is different and there are way too many variables for a black and white answer!

Answer 4

I don't think it's human nature to be monogamous, but it can be done.

If it were our nature to be monogamous, I think we would automatically stop looking after finding a mate like geese. But in much of the animal kingdom (and we are animals), it's survival of the fittest. They are the ones that get to mate, usually with more than one other partner, so that their genes go on to another generation.

It's kind of that way with humans too. The handsomest, smartest, or richest man can pretty much have his pick of what woman (-men) he wants to mate with or bear his children. I'm willing to bet that the women he picks don't have a lot of say in who else he decides to have sex with either. The prettiest women can also have their choice of the men.

So to answer you question, I think there is a strong basic drive to mate with more than one other person in a human's life time, but it is their morals that either allow them to cheat or stop them from cheating.

Answer 5

Humans are absolutely NOT monogamous by nature .. if we were there would never be any "work to stay faithful". Human monogamy is strictly a social phenomenon. There are many animals that do "mate for life" and they never have to "struggle" with it.

Answer 6

Moreso for females than males. Especially from historical and biological perspectives. Females are set-up for bearing and rearing children, and there is a natural limit to how many children a woman can bear at any one time. And over a period of time too (her fertile lifecycle). Also, rearing children takes years and years, so it is beneficial for females to be in monogamous relationships. Men are capable of siring many children in a short time, and are generally not necessary for child-rearing. By nature, men are not ideally suited for monogamy, but for good or for bad, society and civilization have steered us in that direction.

Answer 7

everyone has to work to keep their partner. speaking from experience I'm glad that it is that way. it hurts when their is something pulling a couple apart but when they work it out it feels so very good. if your partner is cheating on you then there is two basic explanations. they are either doing something very blind because they do not know any better or they are unsatisfied with you. there's other explanations like maybe they are doing this to make you jealous but i don't know the person so i don't have a clue which it is. i hope this helps.

Answer 8

nope! It's not human nature by any means. Once you get married or are in a commited relationship you have to make a conscious choice not to cheat. You are still attracted to people but you make a choice about cheating.

Answer 9

i think that humans are capable of having feelings for more than one person. monogamy is about having the discipline not to act upon the feelings you have for anyone other than your chosen mate. i dont think monogamy is human nature, i think it is a product of whatever society that it is practiced in.

Answer 10

there are lots of species that are meant to be monogamus in all the 'kingdoms' just look at swans, gorillas and so on,, unfortunatly the monogamus gene does not appear in the human MALE!!