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All in the Family: Attitudes Towards Cousin Marriages Among Young Dutch People from Various Ethnic Groups

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All in the Family: Attitudes Towards Cousin Marriages Among Young Dutch People from Various Ethnic Groups Original Evolution, Mind and Behaviour 15(2017), 1–15 article DOI: 10.1556/2050.2017.0001 ALL IN THE FAMILY: ATTITUDES TOWARDS COUSIN MARRIAGES AMONG YOUNG DUTCH PEOPLE FROM VARIOUS ETHNIC GROUPS ABRAHAM P. BUUNK* Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, The Hague and University of Groningen, The Netherlands (Received: 11 August 2016; accepted: 01 February 2017) Abstract. The present research examined attitudes towards cousin marriages among young people from various ethnic groups living in The Netherlands. The sample consisted of 245 participants, with a mean age of 21, and included 107 Dutch, 69 Moroccans, and 69 Turks. The parents of the latter two groups came from countries where cousin marriages are accepted. Participants reported more negative than positive attitudes towards cousin marriage, and women reported more negative attitudes than did men. The main objection against marrying a cousin was that it is wrong for religious reasons, whereas the risk of genetic defects was considered less important. Moroccans had less negative attitudes than both the Dutch and the Turks, who did not differ from each other. Among Turks as well as among Moroccans, a more positive attitude towards cousin marriage was predicted independently by a preference for parental control of mate choice and religiosity. This was not the case among the Dutch. Discussion focuses upon the differences between Turks and Moroccans, on the role of parental control of mate choice and religiosity, and on the role of incest avoidance underlying attitudes towards cousin marriage. Keywords: cousin marriage, consanguineity, Turks, Moroccans ATTITUDES TOWARDS COUSIN MARRIAGE The large cultural and historical variation in the attitudes towards cousin marriages suggests that there is not a universal, evolved mechanism against mating with cousins (cf. Wilmsen Thornhill & Thornhill, 1987). Indeed, throughout the history of Western civilization, marriages between cousins have often been accepted or even encouraged, especially in the higher social classes to prevent the division of family property. Until the middle of the 19th century, cousin marriage was permitted in the United States and in many European countries (e.g., Hoben, Buunk, & Fisher, 2016). However, during the 19th century attitudes towards cousin marriage in the Western world became *Address for correspondence: E-mail: [email protected] This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non-commercial purposes, provided the original author and source are credited, a link to the CC License is provided, and changes - if any - are indicated. © The Author Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/29/21 08:12 AM UTC 2 ABRAHAM P. BUUNK gradually more negative, particularly due to the conviction that the offspring of cousins might suffer from genetic defects (see e.g., Bittles & Neel, 1994). Currently, thirty-one states in the United States have laws that prohibit the marriage of cousins or laws that regulate the practice (Ottenheimer, 1996). Although today cousin marriage is legal in all European countries, this type of union is generally disapproved of (Paul & Spencer, 2008). In general, in Western countries sexual relationships between cousins tend to evoke moral indignation as well as disgust (e.g., Antfolk, Lieberman, & Santtila, 2012). Even more negative attitudes towards cousin marriage can be found in various East Asian countries. For example, in northern India, prior to marriage, potential spouses are examined up to five generations on the female side and seven on the male side in order to guarantee that the bride and groom are not genetically related (Bittles, 2002). In contrast, in many Islamic countries in the Middle East, the attitudes towards cousin marriage are quite accepting and even positive. At least 50% of the marriages in countries such as Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia occur among cousins (Hoben et al., 2016; Jaber, Shohot, & Halpern, 1996). There may be various proximate and ultimate factors underlying such positive attitudes. In these countries, cousin marriage seems in part an extension of the wider phenomenon of agnatic (father’s lineage) solidarity. In general, marrying a cousin may strengthen and maintain the cohesiveness of the clan, and a marriage within the father’s line (i.e., father’s brother’s son) allows male relatives to remain in close contact with their daughter, sister or niece, thus preventing dishonorable behavior such as infidelity or premarital sex (Holy, 1989; Wilmsen Thornhill, & Thornhill, 1987). In addition, from the perspective of inclusive fitness theory, marrying a cousin may be advantageous for a woman, as she may receive more support from the family of her husband because she is genetically related to this family (Hoben et al., 2016). Even more so, cousin marriages may under some conditions have direct fitness benefits. Hoben, Buunk, Fincher, Thornhill and Schaller (2011) showed that cousin marriages may have been an adaptive response to a high pathogen prevalence, and may function to maintain co-adapted gene complexes and local adaptation that defend against local pathogens. Furthermore, in small, isolated populations, individuals have limited access to mates except to those from within their group, increasing the frequency of cousin marriage. Hoben et al. (2016) found indeed that geographical isolation may foster the occurrence of cousin marriages. Even under such conditions, this type of union may not be necessarily maladaptive. For example, a study in a French Canadian region isolate showed that women who were biologically related to their partner experienced lower intrauterine mortality, which in turn resulted in greater fertility (Philippe, 1974; see also Bittles, Grant, Sullivan, & Hussain, 2002). Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/29/21 08:12 AM UTC COUSIN MARRIAGES 3 ATTITUDES AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE FROM TURKISH AND MOROCCAN DESCENT IN THE NETHERLANDS The favorable attitudes towards cousin marriage in the Middle East have become a salient issue in various West European countries such as The Netherlands, as many young people of Turkish and Moroccan descent looked for a cousin from their country of origin as a spouse, or their parents did this for them. Due to a series of legal regulations to restrict immigration to The Netherlands, though not specifically directed towards cousin marriages, such practices have become increasingly difficult. However, it does not seem directly evident that these laws will have resulted in less favorable attitudes towards cousin marriages. The present research examined the attitudes and beliefs towards cousin marriages in a sample of young second generation immigrants from Morocco and Turkey in The Netherlands, and compared these attitudes to those of native Dutch people of the same age. Overall, it was expected that young people of Moroccan and Turkish descent would be more positive and less negative about cousin marriage than native Dutch. Furthermore, from the perspective of parental investment theory, and in line with previous research (e.g., Antfolk et al., 2012), it was hypothesized that women will be more disapproving of marriage between cousins than men will be. For women, the immense investment that is necessary to gestate a child and the amount of postnatal care is so great that it is more costly for a woman to invest in a child that may suffer from harmful recessive mutations. For men, a single copulation producing sperm is the minimum investment necessary (Mace, 2007; Trivers, 1972; 1985). Consequently, the potential biological harm of mating with a cousin will not be as costly for men, which may make women more attuned to the potential disadvantages of cousin marriages. As described by Buunk (2015), the Turks and Moroccans constitute by far the largest immigrant groups in The Netherlands: 2.3% of the Dutch population has Turkish origins, and 2.1% have Moroccan origins. The immigration of Turkish and Moroccan workers began when in the late 1960s men from Turkey and Moroccan were hired as ‘guest workers’ in various industrial sectors. However, currently most immigrants from these countries arrived later, not as guest workers, but under a regulation of family reunification, or in the expectation of finding a better life. Nevertheless, both Turkish and Moroccan immigrants occupy still a relatively low status position in society, and are generally socio-economically worse-off than the native Dutch (e.g., Hindriks, Verkuyten, & Coenders, 2014). It must be emphasized however, that, despite their common religion, Islam, Turks and Moroccans have distinct cultures, with more cohesion and transmission of collective values among Turkish than among Moroccan immigrants (e.g., Phalet & Schönplug, 2001). Unauthenticated | Downloaded 09/29/21 08:12 AM UTC 4 ABRAHAM P. BUUNK THE ROLE OF PARENTAL CONTROL AND RELIGIOSITY The central hypothesis in the present research was that as many young people may probably not naturally prefer to marry a cousin, parents will be active in selecting a cousin as a spouse for their offspring. In most cultures and throughout history, parents have controlled the mate choice of their offspring to a considerable extent (e.g., Apostolou, 2007; 2010; Buunk, Park, & Duncan, 2010). Currently, severe parental control of mate choice – to the extent that parents chose a mate for their offspring
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