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Sat 19 May, 2007 07:39 pm
Westermarck effect
Interesting read:
Westermarck effect.
Quote:Reverse sexual imprinting is also seen: when two people live in close domestic proximity during the first few years in the life of either one, both are desensitized to later close sexual attraction and capture-bonding. This phenomenon, known as the Westermarck effect, was first formally described by anthropologist Edvard Westermarck. The Westermarck effect has since been observed in many places and cultures, including in the Israeli kibbutz system, and the Chinese Shim-pua marriage customs, as well as in biological-related families.
In the case of the Israeli kibbutz farms, children were reared somewhat communally in peer groups - groups based on age, not biological relation. A study of the marriage patterns of these children later in life revealed that out of the nearly 3,000 marriages that occurred across the kibbutz system, only fourteen were between children from the same peer group. Of those fourteen, none had been reared together during the first six years of life. This result provides evidence not only that the Westermarck effect is demonstrable, but that it operates during the critical period from birth to the age of six (Shepher, 1983).
I wonder if the same holds true for SGAs? We grouped by age and rarely by relation and very much communally. I viewed (and still do) most of the girls I was raised with more like sisters than potential mates.
I don't think the Westermarck is always going to be consistant, because in a lot of cases people who grow up like that fall in love. You'd also have to think that wouldn't it eventually happen to married couples too?
yeah, i was always crushing on someone i lived with in TF when i was a kid. but maybe that's cuz i moved so much