Turnwait O. Michael and Alfred S. Ekpenyong publish scholarly article summarizing the literature on the polygyny-fertility hypothesis.
Turnwait O. Michael and Alfred S. Ekpenyong, "The Polygyny-Fertility Hypothesis: New Evidences from Nigeria," ResearchGate, March 2020, accessed November 29, 2021
According to the polygyny-fertility hypothesis, fertility is lower among married women in polygynous unions than among monogamously married women. For more than 60 years, demographers, anthropologists and sociologists have attempted to re-examine this widely held hypothesis (Lorimer, 1954, Bean & Mineau, 1986; Sichona, 1993; Tertilt, 2005; Whitehouse, 2018). The results of their academic inquiry have instigated a number of arguments and critiques in population research. While Lorimer (1954) for instance, reported lower fertility among polygynously married women, Bean and Mineau (1986) found a lower average level of fertility in polygynous unions. Others, such as Sichona (1993) found polygynously married women to be as fertile as those in monogamous marriage, while Tertilt (2005) and Whitehouse (2018) found polygyny to increase fertility by adopting a transformed notion in modernized settings.