The present work addresses the controversial issue of incest by men. We sought to highlight that the incestuous tendency in men becomes a sexual preference that isn’t determined directly by the existence of borderline or other personality traits or early maladaptive cognitive schemas. A sample of 48 males with confirmed incestuous tendencies was selected. 49% of them showed borderline personality traits and abandonment maladaptive cognitive schemas, their median age being m=38.17 and SD ±9.24 and the mean educational level, m= 13.11 and SD ±1.71. Data was collected with the Millon Multiaxial Clinical Inventory-III, the Young Cognitive Schema Questionnaire (YSQ-L3a), and the Paraphilic Disorders Questionnaire (PDQ). Significant correlations were obtained between borderline traits and the abandonment cognitive schema, the two factors interfering in most cases. A relevant association between incestuous tendencies and borderline traits was identified, yet without connections to the cognitive schema of abandonment. The factor analysis did not reveal the predictive potential of borderline traits, of the abandonment cognitive schema, or the interference of the two factors. Incestuous inclination in men doesn’t always result from personality or paraphilic disorders, but from sexual interests that are atypical for one’s species.