Although some may expect that as the proportion of young men in a society decreases their likelihood to be married would increase, according to an article published in Evolutionary Psychology, the opposite is true.
In societies with a larger amount of women than men, young men are less likely to be married compared to young men from societies with more men than women.
The authors of this research analyzed the the ratio of unmarried men to unmarried women in the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States using U.S Census data.
“Young men in female biased populations have lower marital likelihood than their peers in male biased populations, whereas older men in female biased populations are more likely to be married than their counterparts in male biased populations.”
In societies with a greater amount of women than men, younger men are less likely to be married while older men are more likely to be married. In contrast, in societies with a greater amount of men than women, young men are more likely to be married while older men are less likely to be married.
The authors believe that “in early adulthood, men in modern female biased populations may have less of an incentive to shift effort towards committed relationships due to ample mating opportunities.” Men in societies in with a higher amount of men than women, on the other hand, have more competition and less opportunities to be involved in short-term relationships.
Reference:
Kruger, D.J. & Schlemmer, E. (2009). Male scarcity is differentially related to male marital likelihood across the life course. Evolutionary Psychology, Vol 7, No 2: 280-287. Full text: https://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP07280287.pdf