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A theory is presented to explain the similarity between America and other societies in reproductive sex taboos. The theory argues that these taboos are based on a concept of sexual pollution and represent implicit mechanisms used to solve inevitable social dilemmas produced by marriage. Data were collected from a representative sample of adults to test the theory. The results showed that measures of commitment to traditional marital obligations accounted for 24% of the variability in adherence to the menstrual sex taboo. Adding additional variables to the theoretical model did not substantially affect the proposed relationship.
Karen Ericksen Paige (Fri,) studied this question.