An Additional Facet of the Incest Taboo: A Protection of the Mating-Strategy Template

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.