Abstract
The author accessed genealogical and church archival records of men who were early Mormon immigrants to Utah and who were born between 1821 and 1830. Data were analyzed in an attempt to determine whether socioeconomic status variables (wealth, church rank, and kinship ties) were predictive of marital status and fertility in this polygynous society. Taken together, the predictor variables explained 24% of the variance in male fertility, with church rank explaining the largest portion. Temporal analyses indicated that wealth exerted its greatest effect on fertility through a man's age at first marriage, whereas church rank was more important in his ability to attract plural wives. Kinship ties were in turn important in establishing high rank. The author interprets these results from a sociobiological perspective, concluding that the social evaluation of a nongenetic trait (status) was positively correlated with the reproductive success conferred by that trait. This interpretation supports a model of cultural evolution positing that culture, like biology, evolves by natural selection acting on the reproductive success of individuals.
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