Who is the first psychologist that said :Relationships affect virtually all aspects of our lives, including physical health and mental well-being

-- jamila (jamilamejdoubi@hotmail.com), October 20, 2004

Answers

I doubt that so general a question can be answered with any specificity. Various people (psychologists or no) have believed something like this from time immemorial. One might be able to find the source of an exact quotation, but with a broad claim like this, the real question (as with most "what is the first X?" questions) turns to what is to count as an instance (i.e., how close to this precise wording must one be?)?

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), October 20, 2004.

But if you're talking in terms of modern theorists, Harry Stack Sullivan paid more focused attention to relationships than did any other of the early psychiatrists. You'll find his ideas summarized in The Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry (1953) and a number of other works published after his death in 1949. Sullivan defined personality in terms of patterns of interpersonal relationships, rather than in terms of traits. He also defined anxiety as an interpersonal phenomenon.

-- Hendrika Vande Kemp (hendrika@cox.net), October 20, 2004.