We conclude this discussion of polygyny in Mormon families with some reflections on our experiences as researchers, the transactional perspective as a way of studying close relationships, impressions about life in modern polygynous families, and the future of the people and groups with whom we worked.

We began this project more than eight years ago with a sense of awe and wonder. On each of our respective first contacts with plural families, we were amazed to observe a lifestyle that was completely out of the realm of our experience and imagination. Seeing modern American men and women in plural families was almost incomprehensible, even though we understood and intellectually accepted the concept in other cultures and historical periods. Moreover, polygyny has run counter to Western cultural values for hundreds of years. So at first we were amazed, bewildered, confused, and, to be honest, even felt a twinge of disapproval. After all, fundamentalists are violating the law and deviating from powerful cultural norms about what marriage “is supposed to be.” And they are doing so in an era when sexism, sexual harassment, and physical, mental, and social abuse of women are being talked about in almost every institution of American society. There we were, seeing a lifestyle in which men are viewed as authoritative patriarchs and women live as co-wives under the apparent control of their husbands. How could people live this way in modern America?