Westermarck effect

noun

A hypothetical psychological effect through which people who live in close domestic proximity during the first few years of their lives become desensitized to later sexual attraction. It is one explanation for the incest taboo.

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Meanings

noun
  1. A hypothetical psychological effect through which people who live in close domestic proximity during the first few years of their lives become desensitized to later sexual attraction. It is one explanation for the incest taboo.

Origin

First hypothesized by Finnish anthropologist Edvard Westermarck (1862–1939) in his book The History of Human Marriage (1891).

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Cite this entry
APA

Westermarck effect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Westermarck%20effect

MLA

“Westermarck effect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Westermarck%20effect. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Westermarck effect,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Westermarck%20effect.

Source: Westermarck effect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.