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The New Science Of Female Attraction - Psychology Roundtable - #1133
Where this was said
Are Humans Meant to Be Serial Monogamists?
At 31:06 · chapter starts 31:00
Rob Henderson raises ethnographic evidence of serial monogamy among hunter-gatherers — pair-bonding, having children, then reforming new bonds as romantic feelings dissipate. Steve Stewart-Williams confirms this is common and adds that even in those societies, a non-trivial ~5% of first marriages last for life. Chris Williamson turns to a real-time ChatGPT query: a 2026 Kinsey Institute study of 10,000+ US adults finds the average passionate love count is 2.05 times across a lifespan, with 30% experiencing it twice and 11% four or more times. The implication: without reliable contraception, nearly everyone would have cycled through multiple partners who became parents. The data broadly supports a serial monogamy model, with a small but real tail of highly polygynous individuals — and a mass of ordinary people who fall in love twice and call it a life.
A 2026 Kinsey Institute study of 10,000+ US adults found the average person falls passionately in love 2.05 times. Only 42% have experienced passionate love once or never. This suggests humans are natural serial monogamists — not strict lifelong pair-bonders.
A 2026 Kinsey Institute study of 10,000+ US adults found people experience passionate love on average 2.05 times in their lives.
