Citation

Erickson MT. Am. J. Psychiatry 1993; 150(3): 411-416.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, American Psychiatric Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8434656

Abstract

The author presents a biological hypothesis of incest avoidance. Pertinent literature from evolutionary biology, ethology, anthropology, and clinical research is reviewed. Secure early bonding to immediate kin predicts later adaptive kin-directed behaviors, including preferential altruism (kin selection) and incest avoidance. Impaired bonding predicts aberrant kin-directed behavior, including diminished altruism, neglect, and an increased incidence of incest. Failed bonding predicts the highest frequency of incest. Secure bonding to kin may function to establish adaptive kin-directed behaviors, including incest avoidance. Bonding is conceived of as the developmental foundation of a form of social attraction, here called "familial attraction," which is evolutionarily distinct from sexual attraction.

Language: en