Question: What fuelled your drive when studying human relationships, do you agree Lorenz and Harlows research can be used as real life application?

Sam Carr answered on 14 Jun 2017:

(1) I think I was fascinated by the fact that our relationships (or the lack of relationships) really do have a massive influence on our lives. You don’t have to look far for examples of this:
For example, some children are literally psychologically destroyed by relationships with their parents that have involved emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, crippling expectations, or neglect. The “relationship” causes so much pain and suffering and shapes the inner mind of the child in so many ways.

Some old people are crippled by the LACK of any connection to anybody. They have no love, no support, no companionship – and they suffer intensely from this LACK of connection.
Having relationships can be so fundamentally important to our well-being – and it can be so massively damaging when they go wrong. They are such a big part of human life – and that’s what inspired (and inspires) me to study them.

(2) I think Lorenz and Harlow’s research poses fascinating questions that have significant implications for real life – yes. I don’t think it’s always as simple (in humans) as it was in (for example) Harlow’s monkeys – but I think there are lessons to be learned from these studies. They are a useful stepping stone.