Dr. Lucia O'Sullivan, University of New Brunswick

Q: How did you get started doing relationship research?

A: I began studying relationships in my senior year of my undergraduate studies. I chose to complete an honors degree, and that required finding a professor who would supervise an honors research project. I was extremely fortunate to have the chance to work with one of the top researchers in the field of human sexuality, Dr. Sandra Byers, and she helped me develop, implement, analyze and ultimately publish my first study of sexual relationships. Working with her was fortuitous on a number of levels: I had not considered working in this area before, but we realized that we had a good “fit” in our approach to work. Other students were interested in working with her, but I lucked out. It was also the start of a career-long collaborative relationship. From this experience, I honed my research interests and a range of skills that served me well in graduate school. Most importantly, however, I committed myself to a career as a researcher studying sexual relationships, one that has proven difficult over the years, especially given its “outlaw status” in many areas of the field of Psychology, yet one that has been an incredibly rewarding area in which to focus. I am one of the few people I know who remains passionate about my work year after year.

Lucia F. O'Sullivan, Ph.D.
Professor, Psychology
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada

Stan Treger, DePaul University

Q: Why is it important to study relationships?

A: One of the most important facets of our lives are the relationships that we form with others. We are born into this world with natural ties to our caregivers. Since we are children, we strive to make friends. As we get older, we venture into forming romantic ties. Unsurprisingly, one of the most detrimental feelings we could experience are loneliness and social isolation. Indeed, the notion that people are ultrasocial creatures is omnipresent in the social psychological literature. So why is it important to study relationships, especially if they are so familiar to us all? The importance is embedded within the very fabric of our nature that led us to be so sensitive to our bonds: the innate human fascination with relationships. Proliferating our understanding of relationships will not only quell our natural curiosity about them, but also provide us with insight into so many other important phenomena. For example, understanding more about our relationships can allow us to better understand how to bolster people’s health and well-being. In this digitized world, knowing more about interpersonal attraction can help those who may not have the resources to date find partners via the internet or other communication mediums. In studying relationships during emerging adulthood, we may be better able to promote safer sexual practices and decrease prevalences of unwanted pregnancy, STIs, and other unwanted consequences of risky sexual behavior. Most importantly, extending our knowledge of relationships may very well teach us to appreciate the relationships that we have even more.

Stanislav Treger, M.A.
Graduate Student, Psychology
DePaul University, Chicago, USA