An additional facet of the incest taboo: a protection of the mating-strategy template

Abstract

It is suggested that sexual intercourse between adult males and girls tends to distort an inherent mating-strategy template: female choice of mating partner. The distortion seems to have long-range consequences in the form of myriad psychopathologies, which, in turn, reduce the afflicted individuals' chances for normative marriage and parenting profiles. In addition, a similar dynamic would hypothetically result from adult-male to boy incest. It is suggested that to minimize the chances of adult-child sexual intercourse, incest taboos have historically been reinforced and extended to nonparental adults, especially men, beyond the immediate nuclear family.