The Westermarck effect is a psychological hypothesis holding that people tend not to feel sexual attraction toward peers with whom they lived closely, as if they were siblings, before the age of six. First proposed by the Finnish anthropologist Edvard Westermarck in 1891 as an explanation for why incest taboos exist across human societies, the effect, also called reverse sexual imprinting, suggests that prolonged childhood cohabitation produces a lasting desensitization to sexual attraction between those raised together.
Facts
Core ClaimPeople tend not to be attracted to peers with whom they lived like siblings before the age of six. 1 First Described Year Classification
Type of PhenomenonDevelopmental Phenomenon 1 Sources
1. Westermarck effect, Wikipedia
Lead paragraph
people tend not to be attracted to peers with whom they lived like siblings before the age of six
Lead paragraph, first proposal
This hypothesis was first proposed by Finnish anthropologist Edvard Westermarck in his 1891 book
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