Professor Glenn Wilson, Gresham College, London

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THE OEDIPUS EFFECT

• Professor Glenn Wilson, Gresham College, London

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THE OEDIPUS MYTH

• There once lived man named Oedipus Rex.
• You may have heard about his odd complex.
• His name appears in Freuds index
• Cause he loved his mother.
• (Tom Lehrer, 1959)
• Today we need only expound faithfully on the
  myth of Oedipus, according to its inmost essence,
  and we in it win an intelligible picture of the
  whole history of mankind.
• (Richard Wagner, 1851)

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OEDIPUS COMPLEX

• Freud infant boys desire their mother sexually
  feel jealousy/hostility to fathers (castration
  anxiety). Female equivalent Electra Complex (
  penis envy).
• Failure to resolve results in fixation and
  inverted sexuality.
• Such notions are difficult to test (1) supposed
  to be unconscious.
• (2) defence mechanisms like reaction formation
  can rescue the theory against contrary findings.
• Freuds theory of homosexuality is wrong in
  light of biological origins (Wilson Rahman,
  2005).

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OEDIPUS IN THE TROBRIANDS

• Freud became progressively grandiose the
  beginnings of religion, morals, society and art
  converge in the Oedipus complex (Totem and
  Taboo,1918).
• Debate among anthropologists as to whether OC
  was universal or culturally variable.
• Malinowski (1929) OC absent in matrilineal
  societies without a triangular family
  arrangement. Spiro (1982) found OC alive and
  well in The Trobriands.
• Such disputes continue and may ultimately be
  futile because the theory lacks clarity (Shey,
  2013).

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OEDIPUS IN THE ARTS

• Freudian ideas have permeated literary analysis
  and theatre.
• Ernest Jones (Freuds biographer) interpreted
  Hamlet as a man blocked from revenge against his
  stepfather by Oedipal conflict.
• Incest themes were more explicit in Wagner
  likely Freuds inspiration (Siegmund/Sieglinde
  are long-lost brother sister instinctively
  drawn to each other).
• Incest is appearing increasingly in TV series
  (e.g., Boardwalk Empire, The Borgias, Game of
  Thrones).

The Tyrone Guthrie production of Hamlet at the
Old Vic in 1937 (filmed in 1948) featured a
youthful looking Queen Gertrude in Eileen Herlie
(actually 13 years younger than Laurence Olivier).
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POST-ADOPTION REUNIONS

• When people separated by adoption from their
  families as infants rediscover their biological
  relatives in adulthood there is often a
  lightning bolt romantic and sexual attraction.
• This has been called genetic sexual attraction
  and it may lead to incestuous sexual
  relationships.
• There is often a recognition of oneself in the
  other and a feeling of being half in love
  before actually meeting (Greenberg Littlewood,
  1995).

In Star Wars Luke Leia have fallen in love
before discovering Darth Vader is their father.
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REAL-LIFE EXAMPLES
In 1984 a Tennessee woman (37) was charged with
marrying her son (19) given up for adoption as a
baby. Both claimed this was unwitting chance but
she, at least, was probably aware. Brother-sister
unions are more common - perhaps increasing with
more liberal laws re tracing family after
adoption.
German siblings Patrick Susan Stuebing live
together with four children despite having been
jailed for incest. They did not meet until their
20s. In Essex, siblings Kim Straker Terri
Bigham were given suspended sentences and ordered
to live apart despite having a baby together. Had
also been separately adopted 25 years earlier.
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INCEST TABOOS

• Prohibitions against incest are seen in most
  societies, often backed by laws and punishments.
• Apply most forcibly with respect to parent/child
  (viewed as child abuse). Brother/sister
  prohibitions also common but laws relating to
  second-degree relatives vary. (Samaritans and
  Pakistanis often promote cousin marriage).
• Exceptions to brother/sister marriage bans among
  elite subgroups like Egyptian pharaohs, where
  concern is with consolidating power property
  within family.
• More often, outbreeding is used to build
  political alliances (Leavitt, 2013).

Eminent Colombia U. political scientist admitted
consensual sex with his adult daughter in 2010 -
was conditionally discharged retained job.
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WESTERMARCK EFFECT

• Families are protected against incest by
  familiarity breeding contempt.
• We are seldom sexually excited by those we have
  grown up with, regardless of biological kinship.
  Of 2769 kibbutz marriages, none had shared home
  before age 6 (Shepher, 1983).
• The longer the duration of sibling co-residence
  the more the idea of incest is thought morally
  wrong (Lieberman et al 2003).
• Presumed to have evolved as a proxy for kin
  recognition to protect against inbreeding
  (coincidence of harmful recessives).
• Westermarck applies to most species but fails
  when relatives are separately raised (e.g.,
  Oedipus Jocasta).

Finnish anthropologist Edvard Westermarck
observed that incest prohibitions were hardly
needed inhibition arises naturally with early
intimate exposure.
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TEENAGE REBELLION

• Westermarck is backed up by other forces. One is
  spatial dispersion, seen in many male primates.
  Young males move away from their birth troupe.
• Also teenage rebellion? Being difficult in
  adolescence, manufacturing rows, choosing
  music/dress etc. that alienates parents is
  striving for independence but also keeps parents
  at bay to reduce risk of incest. Once beyond
  hormonal adolescence the need for this
  distancing diminishes and good relations can be
  restored.

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AVOIDING DAD WHEN FERTILE

• Females tend to avoid social contact with male
  kin when mid-cycle.
• Mobile phone records show that girls are half as
  likely to call their father when ovulating. If
  their father calls them, they end the call twice
  as fast (Lieberman et al, 2011).
• Presumably an adaptation to avoid inbreeding.
  Not avoiding parental control, since calls to
  mother increase.
• Fertile women dont avoid men in general. Their
  dress/gestures become sexier e.g., wearing
  red/pink 3x as often (Beall Tracy, 2013).

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OPTIMAL ODOUR

• In non-humans, Westermarck is primarily
  mediated by olfaction. The major
  histocompatibility complex (MHC) governs our
  immune system and is detectable by smell.
• Animals prefer to mate with individuals of
  dissimilar MHC, thus increasing offspring
  heterozygosity (Wedekind et al, 1995).
• Women prefer men of dissimilar MHC when in
  breeding mode (mid-cycle, not on pill, coupled,
  not pregnant). Other times they lean toward
  familial smells (Havlicek Roberts, 2009).
• This promotes good genes when fertile
  family support/safety when not breeding.

The importance of odour in mate choice,
particularly to women, has led to the concept of
pheromone parties where partners are chosen by
sniffing undergarments.
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SIMILARITY DETECTION

• Advantages of outbreeding are well-recognised
  but inbreeding also has merits, e.g., preventing
  the break-up of successful gene combinations
  (Bateson, 1978).
• The idea of inclusive fitness (kin selection)
  implies that we are more helpful to close
  relatives because it helps our own genes.
• We prefer similar people as partners. Perfect
  outbreeders discount their genome by 50 with
  each generation (Leavitt, 2013).
• Balance needs to be struck (optimal outbreeding)
  but a range of successful strategies is possible.

We choose friends and mates that overlap with us
genetically hence must have mechanisms for
detecting our genes in others (Rushton Bon,
2005).
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NARCISSISM

• Choice of a partner similar to ourselves could
  derive from use of opposite-sex parent as model.
• Alternatively, we may seek a partner who is as
  much like ourselves as possible (though usually
  of opposite gender). Before mirrors, this would
  involve seeing ones reflection in water.
• The stream has shown my reflected face and now
  I find it before me. In you I see it again, just
  as it shone from the stream.
• (Sieglinde to Siegmund, The Valkyrie).

Papageno finds his soulmate Papagena in Mozarts
Magic Flute.
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IN LOVE WITH OURSELVES?

• Fraley Marks (2010) had students rate sexual
  attractiveness of 100 strangers faces. For half,
  each face was preceded by a subliminal
  presentation of a family member. Controls were
  exposed to non-relatives. Experimental group
  rated strangers as more attractive.
• Second study faces were morphed to resemble
  their own face. The greater the morphing towards
  themselves the more attractive the face was
  judged to be.
• Which is the stronger force, genetic relatedness
  or self-resemblance?

Michael Jackson appeared to be morphing himself
into his sister LaToya
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BEAUTY IN FACE OF BEHOLDER

• Laeng et al (2013) compared attractiveness
  ratings of romantic partners morphed in various
  ways. Some were blended with the self to varying
  degree (11, 22, 33) others with the same-sex
  prototype.
• The prototype blend was preferred over the
  original by independent judges.
• The self-based morph with a 22 amalgam was
  consistently preferred over all others.
• Signal-detection analysis showed 22 was the
  highest level of self-resemblance operating at a
  subconscious level.

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SEX DIFFERENCES IN INCEST AVOIDANCE

• Another morphing study examined the effect of
  sibling resemblance (Marcinkowska et al, 2013).
• Self-similarity did not affect judgements of
  other-sex faces. Sibling blends did, but in
  opposite directions for men and women. Women
  rated pictures morphed to look like their brother
  as less sexually attractive men rated
  sister-morphed images as more attractive.
• Westermarck aversion applies more for females
  because they bear greater costs of inbreeding
  (Haig, 1999).

In Game of Thrones, Cersie Jaime Lannister are
twins and long-term lovers.
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TRUST vs LUST

• The value of family resemblance depends on
  whether one is evaluating partners for long-term
  relationships or short-term encounters.
• DeBruine (2005) found that manipulation of
  other-sex faces towards the self increased
  apparent trustworthiness but not sex appeal.
• Where short-terms flings were concerned ,
  self-resemblance decreased sexual desirability.
• Kinship cues can be positive or negative
  according to context.

A
B
C
A rates C as more trustworthy than B. (C has been
morphed towards the self).
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IMPRINTING OF PARTNER PREFERENCES
Cross-fostering studies (Kendrick et al, 1998)
reveal importance of mother-image. Lambs raised
by a goat mother (left) and kids raised by a
sheep mother (right) fancy the wrong species in
adulthood (esp. true for males, who acquire more
visual targets).
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SUPER-SIGNALS

• Male zebra finches are attracted to maternal
  colour in potential mates (ten Cate et al, 2006).
  
• Plumage was always white but maternal and
  paternal beak colours were altered with nail
  varnish (continuum of red to orange).
• Attraction to females measured by proportion of
  songs directed at different females.
• The males were most attracted to females showing
  exaggerated maternal traits (beyond those
  actually experienced as chicks).

Songs directed toward females of various beak
colours. Group R raised with red-beak mother
orange father. Group O vice versa. Arrows show
maternal/paternal anchors used.
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OEDIPAL MODELLING

• Hawaiians of mixed race tend to marry into
  ethnic group of opposite-sex parent (Jedlicka,
  1980).
• Women fall in love with men of eye colour more
  similar to their father than their mother (Wilson
  Barrett, 1987).
• Daughters of older men choose older partners
  (Perrett et al, 2002).
• People choose partners more similar to their
  opposite-sex parent in both eye and hair colour
  (Little et al, 2003).
• Photos of wives are correctly matched by
  external judges to mothers-in-law beyond chance
  (Bereczkei et al, 2004).
• Self-image theory does not account for these
  cross-sex effects.

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FACIAL METRICS

• Berecskei et al (2009) used facial measurements
  to assess similarity among subjects, comparing
  family members with random pairings.
• Spouses were assortatively mated on most
  metrics.
• Men correlated with their partners father (but
  not her mother).
• Women resembled their partners mother (but not
  his father).
• These relationships were all replicated by
  similarity ratings using photographs.
• Again, support for idea that opposite-sex
  parents are used as a template for choosing a
  mate.

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COMPULSIVE ATTRACTION

• Madonna was instantly attracted to bad boy
  Sean Penn and remained addicted to him despite
  physical abuse and an acrimonious divorce.
• According to her brother, Sean was a ringer
  for their father Silvio, who brought her up alone
  after her mother had died but broke her heart
  by marrying the family housekeeper.
• Both men are of Italian origin.

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RELATIONSHIP QUALITY

• Partner preferences are affected by the
  quality of parent-child relationships.
• Daughters with good relationships with their
  father choose partners more similar to him
  (Wiszewska et al, 2007).
• This applies also to the relationship with an
  adoptive father (Bereczkei et al, 2004).

Individual cases are complex. Angelina Jolie was
estranged from Jon Voight from childhood
(reconciled in 2007). Brad Pitt is first partner
to resemble Voight.
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ONES SPITTING IMAGE?
Resemblance between mens wives and their mothers
is also greater when the relationship with the
mother was good (Bereczkei et al, 2004)
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SEXUAL IMPRINTING

• Sexual preferences are influenced by early
  experiences linking sexual arousal to certain
  sensory (especially visual and olfactory) stimuli
  (Epstein, 1987).
• Rats suckled by mothers with citral treated
  nipples/genitals were sexually excited in
  adulthood by lemon-flavoured females more than
  normal receptive females (Fillion Blass, 1986).
• Sexual preference for pregnant/lactating women
  is more common in men whose mother nursed younger
  siblings when they were 1.5-5 yrs old
  apparently the sensitive period (Enquist et al,
  2011).

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MASOCHISM

• If sexual imprinting in humans is
  inappropriate, sexual variations such as
  fetishism can result (Wilson, 1987).
• Submission fantasies are surprisingly common
  among men, especially those occupying powerful
  positions in daily life.
• These appear to derive from experiences of
  motherly discipline in early childhood that have
  become imprinted in connection with first sexual
  stirrings.

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FREUD OR DARWIN?

• Freuds theory of the Oedipus complex is a
  distortion of the facts. Incest avoidance is the
  default it emerges naturally with intrafamily
  exposure and seldom needs taboos for
  reinforcement. There is no evidence for cross-sex
  antagonism during the Oedipal years (Daly
  Wilson, 1990). Imprinting of parental stimuli
  affects mate preferences but we dont desire
  intercourse with our parents. By the time the
  partner blueprint is activated our parents no
  longer embody it.
• Evolutionary psychology is a better framework
  for understanding these phenomena than
  psychoanalysis.

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Professor Wilsons Next Lecture
Cosmic Influences on Behaviour? Tuesday 18th
March 2014 Museum of London