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On ethology and human behaviour

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Summary

The paper provides a critical discussion of the role ethology may play in the study of human behaviour. The mechanisms of avoidance of consanguineal mating in some animal species and Man are analysed and compared. Aggression and competition are discussed in relation to agonistic courtship, and play behaviour.

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Paper given at a meeting of the Netherlands Society for Theoretical Biology, 10 November 1973, titled: “Ethologie gaat vreemd ?”.

I am much indebted to Prof. P.Sevenster for encouragement and discussion; to him and to Dr. J.van den Assem for a critical reading of the manuscript.

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Kortmulder, K. On ethology and human behaviour. Acta Biotheor 23, 55–78 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01614684

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