Am J Psychiatry 1993; 150:411-416
Copyright © 1993 by American Psychiatric Association
Rethinking Oedipus: an evolutionary perspective of incest avoidance
MT Erickson
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco.
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.
