What would you say explains the universality of the incest taboo?
"1. Instinctive Horror of Incest: It is assumed that most people nearly everywhere consider the prospect of incestuous relationships to be repulsive, and would not consider engaging in, or permitting such relationships to be officially sanctioned.
2. Childhood Familiarity Theory: This theory suggests that familiarity breeds sexual disinterest. Advanced by Edward Westermarch, this theory found some validation in the work of Yanina Talmon. Talmon studied 125 married couples in Israel, all of whom were raised in the children's houses of various Kibbutzim. Her work revealed that none of the couples married someone from the same children's house from which they were raised. When asked, the couples basically responded that marrying someone from the same children's house was like marrying one's own sister or brother. The childhood familiarity theory suggests that we are unlikely to marry someone whom we know very well from childhood - even if that person is not our blood relative.
3. Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory: Freud suggest that there is a natural attraction that a son has for his mother, called the oedipal complex. Likewise, there is a natural attraction that a daughter has for her father, called the electra complex. "Freud believed that people have an innate desire to commit incest and that the incest taboo prevents them from carrying out such deep seated desires". see: Britannica.com
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/8/0,5716,118058+2+109755,00.html 4. Family Disruption Theory: Forwarded by Branislaw Malinowski, this theory suggests that, if incest were permitted, the resulting sexual tension would disrupt the family, and ultimately threaten the stability of society.
5. Cooperation Theory: advanced by Edward Tyler, this theory suggests that the purpose of the incest taboo is to encourage cooperation with groups outside the family. By marrying outside of one's family, one forms connections with outsiders, thus reducing the possibility of conflict with others.
6. Inbreeding Theory: Perhaps the best known reason for the incest taboo is the notion that sex between relatives who are too closely related may result in genetic anomalies in the resulting offspring. Generally, without genetic diversity, our species would have difficulty adapting to new environments. For the most part, incest is a problem for any species where the period of gestation (pregnancy) is long, and the number of live offspring per birth is very few. At nine months, the period of gestation among humans is long, and the number of offspring per birth (usually one) small. As a result, incest, if it were permitted as a regular practice, might prove disastrous to our survival as a species."
Anyone have anyone to add to any of these explanations or know of any other explanations?
