Mrs. D, a 74-year-old married housewife, recently discharged from a local hospital after her first psychiatric admission, presented to our facility for a second opinion. At the time of her admission earlier in the year, she had received the diagnosis of atypical psychosis because of her belief that her husband had been replaced by another unrelated man. She refused to sleep with the impostor, locked her bedroom and door at night, asked her son for a gun, and finally fought with the police when attempts were made to hospitalise her. At times she believed her husband was her long deceased father. She easily recognised other family members and would misidentify her husband only. — Passer and Warnock (1991)

In the sense that people say they believe in it, of course, but the people who follow through on that belief are few enough that I'd say it doesn't really count as a species trait. — Moliere

Probably because males are not that much strong (nor different) from women compared to other apes. — I like sushi

why did it ever come up at all? Biologically speaking, it probably shouldn't have. Does this imply that we're more than our biology? — Tate

I don't think so. We are able to posit ideals that we're unable to live up to. — Moliere

Compared to most other apes this is pretty common knowledge. It is not just me saying it. — I like sushi

Not completely related but think you will enjoy. Sapolsky is a brilliant speaker (thanks for reminding me he exists): — I like sushi

For that I'd say the explanation is patriarchy. Men wanted ways to ensure that the children they were responsible for were actually their children, so monogamy was invented as an ideal. — Moliere

Having more than one spouse would not be feasible except for the rich and powerful. Also, without monogamy there would not be enough women for all the men, which would lead to social disruption. I'm pretty sure women would not think it is a very good idea. — T Clark

This all supposes power on the part of every male in society. — Tate

It only assumes that any society, human or otherwise, will only work if it can take care of it's children. — T Clark

The wifeless men are not individually powerful, but as a group they can be disruptive — T Clark

Children of a harem system thrive. — Tate

Why not just have harems like gorillas? — Tate

Sapolsky refers to humans as ‘the confused ape’ — I like sushi

So how did monogamy become an ideal for our species? — Tate

What does this imply about the human psyche in terms of our power to override biology?

Homo Sapiens wouldn't be expected to be monogamous because of marked sexual dimorphism (males are bigger). Generally, dimorphic species exhibit strong male-male competition and individual males usually mate with a lot of females. This pattern is common among primates with only a handful of exceptions.

So how did monogamy become an ideal for our species? What does this imply about the human psyche in terms of our power to override biology? — Tate

Children of a harem system thrive.
— Tate

Do you know that's true? — T Clark

the women will have to agree to patriarchy as well as the men, but when you frame it like that it's a lot harder to catch on. So, monogamy. — Moliere

Well, gorillas seem to have survived pretty well using that reproductive system. They've been doing it for 7 million years, so I assume it has the potential to work. — Tate

I think the lesson here is to avoid drawing causal conclusions about human behavior from statistical analyses of animal behavior. — Joshs