Final answer:
Monogamy is most closely associated with postindustrial societies and cultures where smaller, highly mobile family units, such as nomadic foragers, are the norm. Polygamy, which includes polygyny and polyandry, tends to be prevalent in agrarian societies where additional labor for farming is advantageous.
Step-by-step explanation:
Monogamy, a marriage unit of one man and one wife, is most closely associated with postindustrial societies and highly mobile cultures, such as nomadic foragers. While serial monogamy is common in American and European cultures, where individuals marry, divorce, and remarry in a life-long cycle, different forms of marriage, like polygamy, can be found around the world depending on various cultural factors. The prevalence of polygamy, particularly polygyny, is often related to the subsistence patterns of a society, with agrarian societies seeing the benefits of multiple wives to increase the family's labor force for farming tasks.
In polygamous societies, the form of marriage can be influenced by factors such as population growth, religious ideologies, and social status. Polygamy can be divided into polygyny, where one man has multiple wives, and polyandry, where one woman has multiple husbands, the latter being much rarer. Different societal needs, such as labor for farming or managing scarce resources, can make certain forms of marriage more advantageous. Cultural anthropologists observe these patterns to understand the diversity and reasoning behind various marital structures across cultures.