Yea, it does explain an awful lot of human conflict.
I am just reading up on this now for a journal piece. About the swing of the pendulem in human cultures from mild polygamy, strong polygamy (where all females are 'mated' and only a very small percenatge of males are) to monogamy. The overwhelming evidence is that we are a predominenly monogamous species, but that men are attracted to the idea of variation and this can tip the scales for a few lucky men when they have the lions share of resourses.
Thing that's not often discussed in lay terms is that most men may like the idea of polygamy, but its actually men who are worse off by it. Women don't like it either too. The concept of mate guarding is very much central to patraichies though, perhaps the central element, but one, which again you don't hear about, liberal democracy has pretty much dismantled from its systems.
The idea that a state would help a woman leave an abuive partner and then subsidise her to brng up her kids is unheeard of in human history and really testifies to the degree of privledge we life in in the west.
Liberal democracy is pretty much a one man - one wife system - and one that facilitaes individual chjoice within that for both sexes. We are at, I think, the pinnicle of human equality. It's not perfect because people (men and women) aren't perfect but the systems reallyt are always striving towards fairness. In the contrext of history, we live very blessed lives, and flies in the face of fears of biological determinism reinforcing the status quo. It seems to be doing the very opposite. A testament to the human moral animal!