Dominance and Marriage

As the common belief goes, the key to a successful marriage is couplehood equality. But according to a new study, having a dominant spouse in a marriage gives the partnership greater stability and results in more children. The existence of such a disparity in power within a relationship, according to researchers, improves cohesion within the relationship, results in better cooperation between partners and improves the couple’s ability to face challenges, apart from also delivering more children. The researchers, however, point out that such a disparity need not imply domestic violence, and the dominant partner could be either male or female.

For the study, conducted by researchers from Prague and published in the journal Neuroendocrinology Letters, 340 men and women were surveyed in detail about the hierarchical structures in relationships involving partners, friends and parents. They found that there were more relationships in which one partner was dominant than in which they were equal in influence. Also, women were more dominant in at least a quarter of these relationships.

According to the researchers, couples in which one partner was dominant were found to have 15 per cent more children. In comparison, couples in which both partners had equal influence had the lowest reproductive success.

The researchers reason that this could be occurring because hierarchical disparity is reducing the frequency and intensity of conflicts between partners, and that if two partners had equal influence and power then even the most minor conflict is likely to escalate due to a sense of competition. Dr Eva Jozifkova, who led the research, was quoted as telling The Telegraph, “From the point of view of reproductive success, answering the question why some women are aroused by submissive men is easy. Hierarchy disparity within couples allows the parents to invest more energy into their offspring, presumably by increased cooperation and/or conflict reduction, irrespective of which gender assumes the dominant role.’’

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