Suchergebnisse

Sociobiologists of human behavior, arguing that close inbreeding results in deleterious offspring, have proposed that natural selection processes have produced incest avoidance mechanisms in the human genotype. To support this evolutionary hypothesis, universal cultural incest proscriptions and research indicating a close compliance with these taboos are cited. Additional evidence from population genetics, ethology, and human community studies is also offered as evidential support. In this article I argue that the research cited in support of a biological basis for incest avoidance does not justify these resolute conclusions.

Employing a cross‐cultural sample of 121 societies, this research tests and supports three hypotheses offered by Yehudi Cohen (1978) concerning the relationship between the general evolution of society and the extension of the incest taboo. Cohen generally proposes that the number of relatives included in the incest taboo will be reduced as societies become technologically and socially more complex. More specifically, Cohen identifies the development of trade institutions as eliminating the need for extended incest regulations. Furthermore, Cohen proposes that as the incest taboo contracts and becomes less important, violations of this taboo are treated less severely.

This research stresses the utility of evolutionary theory and comparative methodology for explaining warfare frequency. It is hypothesized that warfare frequency (external war, civil war, rioting, and feuding) is related to sociocultural development as indicated by cross‐cultural measures of technology and social differentiation. The hypotheses were supported utilizing data drawn from the Human Relations Area microfilm Files on 132 contemporary and historical societies.