virilocality

Virilocality, also called patrilocality in many ethnographic accounts, is a postmarital residence pattern in which a married couple lives with or near the husband’s family. In virilocal arrangements the wife typically moves into the husband’s household or community, and the husband’s kin often assumes a central role in household leadership, caregiving, and resource management. The pattern is frequently linked to patrilineal descent, where lineage and inheritance are traced through the male line, and to patriarchal forms of social organization, though there is substantial cultural variation.

The residence pattern shapes kinship and social networks. Marriage forges ties between the wife’s natal group and the husband’s kin, while the wife’s primary social connections often shift toward her in-laws. This arrangement can influence the division of labor, authority within the household, and access to or transmission of property and resources. Bridewealth or dowry practices, as well as norms governing mobility and daily cooperation, frequently play roles in sustaining virilocal residence.

Virilocality contrasts with matrilocality (residence with the wife’s kin), neolocality (establishment of a new, independent household), and bilocality or ambilocality (residence with either kin group, often flexibly). The prevalence and form of virilocal residence vary across cultures and historical periods, reflecting economic systems, social structures, and demographic factors. In contemporary settings, globalization, urbanization, and migration can lead to shifts away from strict virilocal patterns toward more flexible or mixed residence arrangements.