The nature of love
Abstract
Much as been written about Harry Harlow’s controversial use of rhesus macaques as experimental subjects in his research on mother-infant bonds. On August 31, 1958, Harlow presented the results of his work in his presidential address at the Sixty-sixth Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in Washington, D. C. This talk was later published as a paper in the American Psychologist. This chapter is an excerpt from that paper and presents a fascinating perspective into Harlow’s views on human-macaque relations, animal sentience and ‘the nature of love’.
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At birth or soon after, all primate infants except humans cling to their mothers.
“Indeed, at birth or soon after, all primate infants— except humans —cling to their mothers (see Harlow, 1958; Harlow and Harlow, 1962).”
From Back to basics: A re-evaluation of the relevance of imprinting in the genesis of Bowlby’s attachment theory (2022) · cites this paper as Harlow, 1958
Infant monkeys with only a wire mother showed significant psychological deficits.
“Indeed, when infant monkeys were separated into two conditions—one in which they only had access to the wire ‘mother’ and the other in which they only had access to the cloth ‘mother’—infants in the wire ‘mother’ context showed significant psychological deficits [61].”
From The social origins of consciousness (2025) · cites this paper as [61]
Social attention is deeply preferred across a wide range of species.
“While it has been well established that social isolation causes significant psychological and physical damage, perhaps the strongest evidence comes from preference tests that support the claim that social attention is deeply preferred across a wide range of species, and social isolation is among the most aversive experiences.”
From The social origins of consciousness (2025) · cites this paper as [61]
Social isolation is among the most aversive experiences.
“While it has been well established that social isolation causes significant psychological and physical damage, perhaps the strongest evidence comes from preference tests that support the claim that social attention is deeply preferred across a wide range of species, and social isolation is among the most aversive experiences.”
From The social origins of consciousness (2025) · cites this paper as [61]
Infant monkeys preferred a soft surrogate mother over a wire mother that delivered milk, indicating the deep importance of social interaction and touch in primates.
“The infants preferred the soft ‘mother’, speaking to the deep importance of social interaction and touch in primates.”
From The social origins of consciousness (2025) · cites this paper as [61]
Social isolation causes significant psychological and physical damage.
“While it has been well established that social isolation causes significant psychological and physical damage, perhaps the strongest evidence comes from preference tests that support the claim that social attention is deeply preferred across a wide range of species, and social isolation is among the most aversive experiences.”
From The social origins of consciousness (2025) · cites this paper as [61]
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“These findings were extended by Harlow (1958), who used deprivation experiments with rhesus monkeys to show that social contact was necessary for both immediate and later forms of adaptive social and emotional behavior.”
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Reis, H. T. (2007) · Personal Relationships · doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2006.00139.x · Cited by 229 · see citing works
“(Harlow, 1958, p. 573) The same could have been said about most other relationship phenomena.”
BackgroundExploring new dimensions of mathematics-related affect: embodied and social theories
Hannula, M. S. (2012) · Research in Mathematics Education · doi:10.1080/14794802.2012.694281 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
“Thirdly, we know from ethnographic (e.g., Lutz and White 1986) and psychological (e.g., Harlow 1958) research that affect is intricately linked to social interaction.”
BackgroundMcKenna, J. J., Ball, H. L., & Gettler, L. T. (2007) · American Journal of Physical Anthropology · doi:10.1002/ajpa.20736 · Cited by 220 · see citing works
Olafsen, A. H., Halvari, H., Forest, J., & Deci, E. L. (2015) · Scandinavian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/sjop.12211 · Cited by 225 · see citing works
Psychotherapy and the Single Synapse
Kandel, E. R. (1979) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm197911083011904 · Cited by 219 · see citing works
A 10-year perspective of motherless-mother monkey behavior.
Ruppenthal, G. C., & Al, E. (1976) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037//0021-843x.85.4.341 · Cited by 218 · see citing works
Feeling good: on the role of C fiber mediated touch in interoception
Björnsdotter, M., Morrison, I., & Olausson, H. (2010) · Experimental Brain Research · doi:10.1007/s00221-010-2408-y · Cited by 211 · see citing works
“The fundamental importance of an aVective touch system in social aYliative contexts is apparent, as illustrated by Harlow’s classic study of infant monkeys displaying aVection for a surrogate mother in response to tactile comfort (Harlow 1958) or the inXuence on adult rat behav-”
BackgroundNeural Basis of Touch and Proprioception in Primate Cortex
Delhaye, B. P., Long, K. H., & Bensmaia, S. J. (2018) · Comprehensive Physiology · doi:10.1002/cphy.c170033 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
Watt, D. F., & Panksepp, J. (2009) · Neuropsychoanalysis · doi:10.1080/15294145.2009.10773593 · Cited by 207 · see citing works
The neurobiology of mammalian parenting and the biosocial context of human caregiving
Feldman, R. (2015) · Hormones and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.10.001 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
Inoculation stress hypothesis of environmental enrichment.
Crofton, E. J., Zhang, Y., & Green, T. A. (2015) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2014.11.017 · Cited by 206 · see citing works
“In parallel with Rosenzweig and colleagues, Harry Harlow was finalizing the ideas for his seminal work on the importance of maternal and social enrichment in rhesus monkeys (Harlow, 1958).”
BackgroundInfluential
- Authors
- Harlow, H. F.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin System (US)
- Corresponding author
- Harlow, Harry F.
- Venue
- American Psychologist
- Published
- 1958-12
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 673-685
- ISSN
- 0003-066X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-990X
- OpenAlex
- W2076059783
- Cited by
- 2,022
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 58 · 2025: 82 · 2024: 59 · 2023: 61 · 2022: 61 · 2021: 62 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 60 · 2018: 114 · 2017: 48 · 2016: 68 · 2015: 88 · 2014: 76 · 2013: 68 · 2012: 80
- FWCI
- 39.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Psychologist (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › General Psychology › Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology
- Keywords
- Harry Harlow, rhesus monkeys, mother-infant bond, nature of love, animal sentience, animal experimentation, attachment
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