References: Relationships

The key studies and reviews behind these pathways – organised by page, so you can see exactly what each claim on the site is based on.

Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T.B. & Layton, J.B. (2010). “Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review.” PLOS Medicine, 7(7), e1000316. The landmark meta-analysis this page describes directly, pooling 148 studies and over 300,000 people to find that social ties predict survival about as reliably as whether someone smokes.
Impett, E.A., Park, L.E. & Sakaluk, J.K. (2023). “Popular Psychology Through the Lens of Social Psychology: A Case Study of the 5 Love Languages.” Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 17(4), e12755. The academic review behind this page’s account of researchers testing the “love languages” framework directly and finding no support for its central claims.

Coan, J.A., Schaefer, H.S. & Davidson, R.J. (2006). “Lending a Hand: Social Regulation of the Neural Response to Threat.” Psychological Science, 17(12), 1032–1039. The 2006 hand-holding study this page describes directly, and one of the founding papers behind social baseline theory.
Field, T. (2014). “Massage therapy research review.” Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 20(4), 224–229. Research from this page’s own recommended author, behind its claim that massage lowers blood pressure and muscle tension for hours after a session.
Walum, H., Waldman, I.D. & Young, L.J. (2016). “Statistical and Methodological Considerations for the Interpretation of Intranasal Oxytocin Studies.” Biological Psychiatry, 79(3), 251–257. The evidence behind this page’s note that later attempts to reproduce the boldest single-dose oxytocin findings mostly came up short.

Levinson, B.M. (1969). Pet-Oriented Child Psychotherapy. Charles C Thomas. Levinson’s own founding text on pet therapy, describing the observation with his dog Jingles this page traces the field back to.
Christian, H.E., Westgarth, C., Bauman, A., et al. (2013). “Dog ownership and physical activity: a review of the evidence.” Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 10(5), 750–759. The evidence behind this page’s claim that dog owners consistently log more daily steps and more regular activity than non-owners.
Mubanga, M., Byberg, L., Nowak, C., et al. (2017). “Dog ownership and the risk of cardiovascular disease and death – a nationwide cohort study.” Scientific Reports, 7, 15821. A widely cited source behind the “pet ownership adds years to your life” claim this page examines, including the confounding factors – such as owners already being more mobile and socially connected – that the more careful research accounts for.