From an evolutionary perspective, incestuous behavior is puzzling. The goal of this study was to assess the tenability of the Westermarck hypothesis (1891, 1921)—that people who live in close physical proximity with one another during childhood will develop a sexual indifference or aversion toward one another—and the mediating role of disgust as an incest avoidance mechanism in father–daughter relationships. A sample of fathers with daughters (N = 632) from Canada and the United States were recruited by Qualtrics—a survey platform and project management company—to complete an online survey. The results from this study did not support the viability of the Westermarck hypothesis as a mechanism that facilitates incest avoidance for fathers. Physical proximity was not associated with incest propensity or disgust toward incest. Less disgust toward incest, however, was found to be associated with more incest propensity. These results indicate that physical proximity may not be a reliable kinship cue used by fathers to inform incest avoidance, but that disgust toward incest may still be a proximate mechanism that facilitates incest avoidance among fathers using kinship cues other than physical proximity.

中文翻译：

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对韦斯特马克假说的检验以及厌恶在父亲避免乱伦中的作用。

从进化的角度来看，乱伦行为令人费解。这项研究的目的是评估韦斯特马克假说 (1891, 1921) 的可行性，即童年时期彼此身体距离很近的人会产生性冷漠或彼此厌恶，以及厌恶的中介作用作为父女关系中的乱伦避免机制。Qualtrics（一家调查平台和项目管理公司）招募了来自加拿大和美国的有女儿的父亲样本（N = 632）来完成在线调查。这项研究的结果并不支持韦斯特马克假说作为促进父亲避免乱伦的机制的可行性。身体上的接近与乱伦倾向或对乱伦的厌恶无关。然而，人们发现，对乱伦的厌恶程度越低，乱伦倾向越高。这些结果表明，身体接近可能不是父亲用来告知避免乱伦的可靠亲属关系线索，但对乱伦的厌恶可能仍然是促进父亲使用亲属关系线索而不是身体接近来避免乱伦的直接机制。