ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the profound effects that follow from imbalanced sex ratios in a population in various historical periods. The sex ratio is a standard demographic index, defined as the number of males per 100 females in a population or in some specified cohort of a population. A unique demographic study of sex ratios among Athenians in the fourth century BC was stimulated by their sex ratio thesis. The Spartans were much concerned with rearing sturdy citizen-soldiers, and so male infants were often killed. Except for childbearing, Spartan women contrasted strongly with Athenian women, in a manner consistent with a low sex ratio society. In the United States and in some other Western countries, relationships between young men and women have often been associated with love and romance. Knowledge of the manner in which social structural processes interact with psychological processes can only be gained through the study of human behaviour in its natural context.
