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Sociobiological Explanations of Incest Avoidance: A Critical Review of Evidential Claims
Author(s) -
Leavitt Gregory C.
Publication year - 1990
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.1990.92.4.02a00070
Subject(s) - ethology , sociobiology , inbreeding avoidance , inbreeding , psychology , population , social psychology , sociology , evolutionary biology , biology , demography
Sociobiologists of human behavior, arguing that close inbreeding results in deleterious offspring, have proposed that natural selection processes have produced incest avoidance mechanisms in the human genotype. To support this evolutionary hypothesis, universal cultural incest proscriptions and research indicating a close compliance with these taboos are cited. Additional evidence from population genetics, ethology, and human community studies is also offered as evidential support. In this article I argue that the research cited in support of a biological basis for incest avoidance does not justify these resolute conclusions.