"Jim Ford"  wrote in message
>
> Don't know whether this is original!
>
> I've often wondered if the reason humans find a foreign, or even a
> different regional accent, attractive/alluring in the opposite sex, is
that it
> means that you're less likely to mate with a relative if you chose a
> partner with one - and is therefore an evolutionary advantage by mixing
> the gene pool!
>
You've got to be careful here. This type of "just so" story about human
behaviour gives human sociobiology a bad name.

It's obvious that incest avoidance is under some sore of inherent genetic
control, that the proximate mechanism is being brought up as siblings, and
that the adaptive purpose is to avoid inbreeding.

Your theory extending this to the attraction of foreign accents might be
correct, but there are plenty of other explanations. For instance foreign
travellers might usually be of higher social status than stay-at-homes.
Alternatively, it could be a phenomenon restricted to a few cultures, like
the West with its premium on individual freedom and adventure.
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