This world operates on equivalent exchange. Take marriage bride price as an example.

In essence, bride price is a penalty for a man not being excellent enough. The higher the bride price you're asked to pay, the worse you rank in the other party's evaluation system. The more inadequate you are as a person, the more bride price is needed to fill that gap.

Simply put, the more mediocre a man is, the more he wants to use a high bride price as a price to lock down an excellent woman, while simultaneously compensating for his own shortcomings elsewhere.