British men are much more likely than British women to believe that humans are naturally polygamous, according to new research.
Despite the majority of the country's population believing that polygamy is morally wrong, almost half of men (46pc) think that it is not natural to have only one sexual partner at a time.
In contrast, only 32pc of women believe that humans are not monogamous by nature.
However, both genders appeared to agree that polygamous relationships can work. When asked whether they thought "people can successfully manage monogamous relationships if they work at it hard enough", 72pc of men and 73pc of women answered in the affirmative.
The survey of 1,714 British adults by recognised pollsters YouGov also quizzed respondents on whether they thought polygamous marriage would be acceptable in 30 years time. 58pc said that it would still be illegal, while only 15pc of people anticipated a change in the law (the other 27pc said they did not know).
YouGov conducted the research to investigate whether attitudes to marriage have changed since the introduction of same-sex marriage in the UK in March 2014.
At the time, prominent figures such as former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey suggested that the change in legislation could set a “dangerous precedent" that could lead to the introduction of sibling marriage and polygamous marriage.
However, the research suggested the British people would not be comfortable with further changes around the marriage law. 66pc of those polled said polygamy is morally wrong – a view shared by 56pc of Americans.
Polygamy is currently illegal in Britain, although it is considered legal in roughly one in four countries worldwide.
