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FBD Marriage: Further Support for the Westermarck Hypothesis of the Incest Taboo?
Author(s) -
McCabe Justine
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1983.85.1.02a00030
Subject(s) - taboo , cousin , criminology , human sexuality , genealogy , psychology , demography , sociology , history , gender studies , anthropology , archaeology
In the past decade, several reports, including data from Taiwan on the sim‐pua form of marriage, have provided evidence for the Westermarck Hypothesis, a heretofore unpopular explanation of the incest taboo. This theory states that intimate childhood association breeds sexual disinterest. A preliminary study of FBD marriage in Lebanon reveals similar support for Westermarck's theory. The Lebanese patrilateral parallel cousin marriages examined produced significantly fewer children and more divorces than nonpaternal first cousin unions. Given the quite disparate cultures from which this evidence comes, serious reconsideration of Westermarck's Hypothesis is suggested. [incest taboo, FBD marriage, Lebanon, Middle Eastern sexuality]