hyperandry

plural hyperandries

1. uncountableusuallyAct or practice of a man seeking a spouse of higher socioeconomic status or caste status than himself.

   Hypergamy refers to the tendency of either sex to mate with individuals of superior status. When women date or marry up, it is called hypergyny. When men do so, it is called hyperandry.

   1998, John Marshall Townsend, chapter 6, in What Women Want–What Men Want: Why the Sexes Still See Love and Commitment So Differently, Oxford University Press, page 133

   2 more examples

   The more common variant of hypergamous unions is hypergyny, in which a woman realizes social, economic, and political gains by marrying a man whose status is higher than that ascribed to her family or group of origin. In the opposite pattern, known as hyperandry, a man of low status takes a bride who enjoys a higher social position.

   2001, Rachel A. Bonney, J. Anthony Paredes, chapter 5, in Anthropologist and Indians in the new South, University of Alabama Press, page 186

   In addition, unlike in other parts of Europe where hypergyny prevailed, Coleman found evidence of hyperandry among the agricultural populations of Saint Germain-des-Pres: That is, women's marriage choices did not depend on their social status relative to that of men, as demonstrated by the significant number of marriages in which the women married men of lower social status.

   2004, Valerie M. Hudson, Andrea M. den Boer, chapter 2, in Bare Branches: Security Implications of Asia's Surplus Male Population, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, page 39