Relationship Between Self‐Reported Storytelling Ability and Reproductive Success Among Three Non‐Western Populations in Nigeria, Pakistan, and Papua

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OBJECTIVES: Storytelling ability has been linked to social preference and reproductive success in egalitarian hunter-gatherer societies. However, whether storytelling confers similar reproductive benefits in more hierarchical societies remains unclear. This study examined the relationship between self-reported storytelling ability and reproductive success across three non-Western populations characterized by hierarchical social organization. METHODS: Data were collected from adult participants in Nigeria, Pakistan, and Papua (Indonesia). Self-reported storytelling ability was assessed using standardized measures. Reproductive success was indexed by number of children. Zero-inflated Poisson regression models were used to examine associations while controlling for age and sex. Sensitivity analyses were conducted in the Nigerian sample to assess the influence of high-parity individuals. RESULTS: In the Nigerian sample, storytelling ability was negatively associated with completed fertility in the count component of the model and negatively associated with the probability of childlessness in the zero-inflation component. Only the association with childlessness remained robust to additional covariates. No significant associations between storytelling ability and number of children were observed in the Pakistani or Papuan samples. CONCLUSIONS: The association between storytelling ability and reproductive success appears context-dependent and may differ between egalitarian and hierarchical societies. Findings suggest that storytelling ability may be more strongly related to the likelihood of parenthood than to completed fertility in certain socioecological settings.

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