APA Dictionary of Psychology

Westermarck effect

Updated on 04/19/2018
the proposal that people who grow up together in the same household do not find one another sexually attractive later in life. It is based on the observation that people who had extensive contact with one another as children rarely ever married, despite being available as mates. [Edward Westermarck (1862–1939), Finnish anthropologist]
ADVERTISEMENT

Word of the Day

ADVERTISEMENT

Psychology in the News