"High status males had multiple wives or additional mating opportunities in the ancestral environment"

Keith Henson’s observation reflects an evolutionary perspective on mating dynamics in human societies prior to modern civilization. In the environments where human beings evolved, hunter-gatherer bands and early agricultural communities, hierarchies were a common feature. Those males who attained high status, whether due to physical prowess, leadership abilities, skill in resource acquisition, or social intelligence, did not just enjoy better survival odds for themselves but also translated their status into reproductive advantages. The privilege of multiple wives, or at the very least more opportunities to mate, was a significant consequence of this elevated status.

From an evolutionary standpoint, this pattern is seen across a range of social species, high-ranking individuals typically secure greater access to mates. For early humans, this meant that successful males could form alliances, demonstrate their value through gift-giving, display success in hunting or gathering, or lead groups in ways that made them attractive to mates and their families. The greater the status, the easier it became for these males to father children with more women, thereby potentially passing on their genes more widely than lower-status males.

Such arrangements were not always formal marital relationships as recognized today, but could include concubinage, informal pairings, or extra-marital liaisons, all of which resulted in children. Women, on their part, might have preferred partnering with high-status males, due to the increased security, resources, and prestige such relationships offered for themselves and their offspring. This would reinforce the dynamic further, making high status a powerful determinant of reproductive success.

The legacy of this ancestral environment lingers in cultural patterns and instincts observable even now, influencing societal organization, mate choice preferences, and the competition for status among men. Modern forms of monogamy and evolving norms have imposed restraints, but the underlying evolutionary logic remains a subject of study for evolutionary psychologists and anthropologists. Henson’s point invites us to consider how deeply rooted status competition is in our species, shaped by millions of years of reproductive strategy.