Final answer:
Serial monogamy is a marriage form where a person has multiple spouses throughout their life but only one at a time. It differs from polygamy, polygyny, and polyandry, which involve having more than one spouse simultaneously. Serial monogamy is prevalent in Western societies and reflects a pattern of marriage-divorce-remarriage.
Step-by-step explanation:
A form of marriage in which a person can have several spouses in his or her lifetime but only one spouse at a time is called serial monogamy. This is different from other forms of marriage such as polygamy, which is the state of being married to more than one person at a time, and specifically polygyny, where one man is married to multiple women, or polyandry, where one woman is married to multiple men. Serial monogamy involves a sequence of monogamous marriages and is common in Western societies, where individuals may divorce and remarry, thus being legally and socially committed to one spouse at any given time.
In contrast, in polygamous societies, which are more prevalent in places like northern Africa and east Asia, families may begin with a two-person marriage and expand to include more spouses over time, often as a sign of status or due to cultural, social, or economic factors. While the concept of marriage varies greatly across different cultures, serial monogamy is increasingly common in American and European cultures, reflecting a cyclical pattern of marriage, divorce, and remarriage.