"78 7. Longer life expectancy 8. Lower odds of being crime victims 9. Enhanced legal and insurance rights and benefits (tax, medical, and inheritance) 10. Higher self - reported happiness M arriage is a legal union between a man and a woman as recognized by most of the United States. Internationally, and in certain U.S. political regions, a man and another man or a woman and another woman can be legally recognized as a married couple. What ar e typical marriage structures? The U.S. and world - wide culturally preferred marriage type today is monogamy. Monogamy is the marriage form permitting only one spouse at a time. Almost all who have married in the U.S. have done so monogamously since the ori ginal colonies in the 1600s. Monogamy implies a 1:1 relationship and is typically desired both by married couples and by opposite and same - sex cohabiters. Polygyny is a form of marriage permitting more than one wife at the same time. Polygyny is still com mon and legal in many African, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and Indian nations. It was a deep part of China's history and prior to World War II it was common for a Chinese man to have multiple wives and many children. Polyandry is a marriage form permitting mo re than one husband at the same time. This is historically and currently rare, and, if or when it was practiced, it often includes the marriage of one wife to a set of brothers with all husbands having sexual access to the wife. Polyandry was found among s ome Pacific Island cultures and among the pre - Taliban Afghanis. What if a person marries, divorces, marries, divorces, etc.? Serial Monogamy or Serial Polygamy is the process of establishing intimate marriage or cohabiting relationships that eventually di ssolve and are followed by another intimate marriage or cohabiting relationship that eventually dissolve, etc. in a series. Thus polygamists have simultaneous multiple spouses while serial monogamists or serial polygamists have multiple spouses in a sequen ce of relationships. Millions of U.S. adults will experience serial marriages and divorces. Many marry then divorce, yet still want to be married again. Many others who suffered through their parents’ unhealthy marriages and divorces also want to marry, kn owing firsthand how risky that might be. Section"