The Westermarck Hypothesis and First Cousin Marriage: The Cultural Modification of Negative Sexual Imprinting

Abstract

The Westermarck Hypothesis that childhood familiarity creates sexual disinterest is examined in the context of the intense practice of first cousin marriage among the Zikri Baluch of coastal Pakistan. The reliance of sociobiology on Westermarck in its formulation of a universalistic statement about the role of early negative sexual imprinting is questioned in the light of cultural factors capable of offsetting the possible negative effects of childhood propinquity. The broadest implications of the Westermarck Hypothesis, from either the sociobiological or culturological position, are yet to be determined.