Do We Drink Because We're Monogamous, or Are We Monogamous Because We Drink?




And the conclusion:

We provide several hypotheses to explain these observations. In pre-industrial societies we find that the correlation is related to the nature of the economy. Comparing hunting, gathering and fishing (HFG) societies that practice agriculture and animal husbandry we find that the former drink more alcohol and are more monogamous. The reason can be higher subsistence insecurity or less hierarchical and structured organization, that characterize HFG societies. On the one hand, there are relatively small differences among men in the control over crucial resources to support multiple women; on the other hand, they may consume a higher quantity of alcohol as a relief and as a way to get rid of their anxiety or to face less social constraints in their society. This relationship is particularly strong for indicators of excessive alcohol use (drunkenness). Lower income in HFG societies may have reduced average demand.

Historically, the global transition from polygynous to monogamous societies and the growth of alcohol consumption finds its basis in some crucial moments of the world history. The Greeks and Romans spread both formal monogamy and viticulture across the ancient world. With the decline of the Roman Empire, the Christian Church maintained and reinforced formal monogamy, albeit that effective polygyny remained widely practiced. At the same time monasteries became centers of brewing and winemaking techniques and spread viticulture around Europe. The industrial revolution brought about the major and definitive change towards effective monogamy and popularization of alcohol consumption. Both changes (in alcohol consumption and in marriage arrangements) were induced by changes in social structures, economic developments and technological innovations associated with the industrial revolution.

I wrote to Swinnen with a few questions; here are his answers.

What was your inspiration for this paper; i.e., where’d the idea even come from?

The inspiration came from a casual observation (over a glass of wine) that the two social/religious groups that do allow polygamy ((parts of) Mormonism and Islam) also do not consume alcohol. So we wondered whether this was a coincidence or not. We collected information on the historical evolution of both (mono/polygamy and alcohol use) and on cross-cultural/country evidence. We found that there is a positive correlation between alcohol consumption and monogamy both over time and across (pre-industrial) societies

Given the difficulty of the empirical work involved here, how confident are you in the conclusion?

I think we are pretty confident on the empirical correlations. Our explanation of why that is the case is a set of hypotheses, some of which we could test and some of which remain hypotheses because we did not find data to test them (so far — we keep thinking and looking).

Depending on your confidence: would you posit that alcohol consumption is a means of preserving monogamy in a culture that already practices it?

Our explanation/hypothesis in the paper is that the correlation is “spurious” in the sense that we do not find evidence/arguments for direct causality between both, but that other factors affect both alcohol consumption and the shift from polygamy to monogamy.

So when/if you pop a cork with your loved one this week to christen the New Year, you might want to ask yourself: do we drink because we’re monogamous, or are we monogamous because we drink?

Eileen Wyatt

Are we to take it that the next step in Freakonomics' campaign to reduce the drunk driving rate to zero will be a movement to legalize polygyny?


Did somebody (or the taxpayer) pay for this inane piece of research? I hope not.


As a personal observation: singles (or semy-poligamous) tend to drink more but softer/cheaper alcohol (beer, highballs) and couples (married or informal) tend to drink less but harder/expensive alcohol (wine, cocktails, spirits).

w/ kind regards!

Drill-Baby-Drill Drill Team

Ancient biblical cultures like Judaism and Islam all practiced polygamy like Abraham. And modern fundamentalist go back to the stern old ethics of alcohol and drug abstinence, no sex outside of marriage, no homosexual deviancy, and maintaining four wives.

Polygamy is old School, just like avoiding alcohol and homosexualism. Despite conservative qualms, some fundamentalist go overboard and embrace the whole bibilical package including the mulitple-wivery.

Who would need a stiff drink more than the husband of 4 nagging wives? Bin ladin probably has a bottle of extra dry vodka hidden somewhere in his cave.

Ian Kemmish

Is it the men who drink more or the women? If the men, then any music hall comedian could have given you the explanation. What do the authors have to say about Tibetans who drink almost nothing that isn't fermented and practice polyandry? Was there an outbreak of infidelity during the Temperance movement in 19th century England? During Prohibition in the US? Were Puritans randier than Royalists?

It seems to me that if anything they have a surfeit of data, rather than a lack....

David Chowes, New York City

If your hypothsis is true (to some degree, at least), then consumption of alchohol should decrease if gay couples marry.

But, as marriage among hetereosexuals is now becoming far less common in the West -- well, put the booze in the safety deposit vault!


Has no one at Freakonomics ever been married? The answer is painfully obvious.


One thing I learned in my statistics class back in high school was that correlation does not equal causation. I think that might be what's going on here.


I think you can throw out the Mormon example, if for no other reason than it's a relatively new religion and the period of accepted, legal polygamy was fairly short. In South Africa, polygamy is illegal but widely accepted (the current president has 3 wives, and you'll find plenty of other polygynous societies among neighboring nations that are more than happy to consume alcohol). Likewise, there are plenty of older and more popular Christian sects that forbid or strongly discourage alcohol (Baptists, Quakers, Methodists, 7th Day Adventists, etc.) that do not endorse polygamy.

It's also worth pointing out that in various parts of the wide swath of cultures and regions that make up the "Muslim World", alcohol and polygamy have been around for thousands of years, while getting rid of alcohol is a relatively recent prohibition. North Africa, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Iran, were all classic wine regions, and of course the Sumerian beer industry of modern-day Iraq is legendary.

Food taboos (which is really what we're talking about) are powerful but not necessarily connected to anything more meaningful; Canada and the US are very similar from a ethnic and historical standpoint, but eating horse is legal in one and socially abhorrent in the other, a distinction that's only emerged in the past few decades.



I think that Drill-baby-drill has it mostly right. There's no real correlation between monogamy and alcohol consumption, but it's just that required avoidance of alcohol and polygamy are both ideas that are impractical in a modern society, and are only really followed by ideologues. It seems that Muslims and Mormans tend to follow the rules of their religion more than the Christians and Jews in this country. Furthermore, the rules themselves tend to be more restrictive.

In this society, it's hard enough for a guy in his 20's to get a good girl, by having to compete with the fact that some guys are getting 4-5 girls.

Walenty Lisek


When will Freakanomics address the brutal lives of the beta males?

Metto Tapkey

The implications of the research are ludicrous

David Chowes, New York City

WARNING: The following comment may not be considered to b e PC.

As (the late) comedian Henny Youngman used to say:

"Take my wife . . .


@Sviluppo In South Africa polygamy is legal under customary law. It is the Recognition of Customary Marriage Act no 120 of 1998


can you imagine what a bar bill would be with 4 wives? so we chose.


Stephen J. Dubner had incomplete data. The Chinese men were allowed multiple wives until early twentieth century but had a long tradition of alcohol consumption. The emperors, who had hundreds of wives, did not drink any less. Sadly, a huge part of the world (Asia) continues to be ignored by many scholars in this country.


How does this analysis account for societies with a (relatively) high rate of polyandry, e.g., Tibetans?

Benjamin Winters

"One people, one kingdom, one leader, one drug, one woman!"

It may not mean anything, but a famous German leader also got his start by giving speeches in beer halls.

The early Christian church advocated for bans on beers that contained any herbs other than hops (which have the effect of inducing drowsiness).

Some anthorpologists speculate that the "witch hunt" against witches in the Middle Ages was in part an effort to surpess female, independent brewers, who *were* adding other ingredients to their brews - hence the association of 'witches' and caldrons.

Is it also a coincidence that the people for peace, love and freedom in the 1960s were using a variety of substances, not just alcohol?

Alcohol (as sole tolerated inebrient) and oppressive sexual, political and economic arangements do seem to go hand in hand.

Jack Bini

How does one measure alcohol consumptions in hunter-gatherer societies? In pints or gallons or liters?


My hypothesis is that higher alcohol consumption is related to greater personal freedoms. The societies mentioned, Mormonism and Islam have a tendency to restrict the freedom and mobility of its followers, and particularly women. Not saying this is true of all believers but it is observed in enough groups to be considered a trend.

Women might prefer monogamy over polygamy. However, in a patriarchal society, like those mentioned, it is the priorities of men that are foremost. Biologically, for men, the desire is to have multiple partners to increase the odds of successful offspring.

I am not saying any of my own conjecture is truth or even near it. I am saying that alcohol's consumption may be an even more indirect indicator than the researchers believe.