Genetic sexual attraction is a concept in which a strong sexual attraction may develop between close blood relatives who first meet as adults. There is no evidence for genetic sexual attraction being an actual phenomenon, and the hypothesis is regarded as

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable clai ...

Background

The term was popularized in the United States in the late 1980s by Barbara Gonyo, the founder of Truth Seekers in Adoption, a Chicago-based support group for

adoptees Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

and their new-found relatives. Gonyo first heard the term used during an American Adoption Congress conference in the early 1980s. She developed sexual feelings for her son when she met him after he was adopted away, but he did not want to be part of any such contact. Because many traits are at least partially determined by genetics, genetic sexual attraction is presumed (according to those who believe in the concept) to occur as a result of genetic relatives meeting as adults, typically as a consequence of adoption. However, this is a very rare outcome of adoptive reunions. Another suggested explanation for the phenomenon is possible

narcissistic Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance or image and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism exists on a co ...

feelings.

Incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adopti ...

is extremely rare between people raised together in early childhood due to a reverse

sexual imprinting In psychology and ethology, imprinting is any kind of phase-sensitive learning (learning occurring at a particular age or a particular life stage) that is rapid and apparently independent of the consequences of behaviour. It was first used to de ...

known as the

Westermarck effect The Westermarck effect, also known as reverse sexual imprinting, is a psychological hypothesis that people tend not to be attracted to peers with whom they lived like siblings before age six. This hypothesis was first proposed by Finnish anthr ...

, which desensitizes them to later close sexual attraction. It is hypothesized that this effect

evolved Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

to prevent

inbreeding Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...

Direct studies

Although reported frequently as anecdote in the field of psychology, there are no studies showing that people are sexually attracted to those genetically similar to them. Studies of MHC genes show that unrelated people are less attracted to those genetically similar to them. However, in mice, this lack of attraction can be reversed by adoption. While it has been documented that sexual attraction can occur between related individuals in some cases, it is not clear that calling this attraction GSA is appropriate.

Criticism

Critics of the hypothesis have called it

Amanda Marcotte Amanda Marie Marcotte (born September 2, 1977) is an American blogger and journalist who writes on feminism and politics from a liberal perspective. Marcotte has written for several online publications, including ''Slate'', ''The Guardian'', a ...

of '' Salon'' has stated that the term is nothing but an attempt at sounding scientific while trying to minimize the taboo of incest. She also opined that many news outlets have handled reports of the subject poorly by repeating what the defenders of the hypothesis have said as opposed to actually looking into the research on the supposed phenomenon. She states that most of the publications which have chosen to run stories of couples speaking about "genetic sexual attraction" are not legitimate news sources. As example, she refers to New York Magazine's Science of Us blog publishing an interview with a woman in an incestuous relationship that simply reads like a story of a young girl who has been groomed by her father. The use of "GSA" as an initialism has also been criticized, since it gives the notion that the phenomenon is an actual diagnosable "condition". Eric Anderson, sociologist and sexologist, states that the one single academic research paper on the subject uses "Freudian

psycho-babble Psychobabble (a portmanteau of "psychology" or "psychoanalysis" and " babble") is a form of speech or writing that uses psychological jargon, buzzwords, and esoteric language to create an impression of truth or plausibility. The term implies th ...

". Catherine MacAskill, an adoption and

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

expert, stated that "although ..concerns are understandable or_adoptees_and_biological_parents.html" ;"title="biological_parent.html" ;"title="or adoptees and biological parent">or adoptees and biological parents">biological_parent.html" ;"title="or adoptees and biological parent">or adoptees and biological parents before attempting a reunion, one who researches the subject will realize that so called "genetic sexual attraction" cases seem to be associated with sudden unplanned meetings which lack the proper safeguards of a thoroughly prepared reunion.

Background

Direct studies

Criticism

See also

References

Citations

Sources

Further reading