Harvard Report — The Key To A Long & Happy Life
Recently, sociologists, economists, and psychologists have turned their attention to the notion of happiness. Some seek to explain what causes happiness; others seek to observe what happiness causes. For instance, there has been some speculation, supported by studies, that happiness may cause longevity. A 2011 study published in the Proceedings of the Academy of National Sciences showed that older people were up to 35% less likely to die during the five-year study if they reported feeling happy, excited, and content on a typical day, even after controlling for other factors such as health or financial problems. So perhaps being happy somehow allows us to live longer.
On the other hand, maybe not: A study of 700,000 women published in The Lancet showed there is not a casual relationship between happiness and longevity when other factors were properly included. We note that perhaps they are splitting hairs a bit: if unhappiness does not cause ill health, but it does, for example, cause poor eating choices which in turn cause ill health, we might think of unhappiness as causing ill health. Nevertheless, while there seems to be a correlation between health and happiness, the casual relationship is far from well established. We suspect that the arrow of causality, as it so often does, points every which way, defiantly complex and real despite our attempts to render a simple explanation.
So we can conclude that it is too early in our collective process of investigation to draw a conclusion. But perhaps we can all agree on this premise: it is better to live a long life in good health than a short life in poor health. Having agreed on this premise, can we gather some information to guide us to our goal? Yes, we can! Read on to discover the simple but profound revelations of one of the longest studies of human success and happiness.
The Grant Study
The Grant Study was part of Harvard Medical School’s ambitious Study of Adult Development. The study followed 268 young Harvard College students for 75 years, beginning in 1933, and has been extended and continues to run. Four of the study participants ran for the U.S.Senate, one served in a Cabinet position as advisor to the president and one became president — John F. Kennedy.
The study was so insightful that a Ted talk summarizing it has been viewed 20 million times. The current leader of the Study of Adult Development, Robert J Waldinger, gave the talk. He was rather overwhelmed with the response and retreated into silent meditation for three weeks to keep himself grounded. Waldinger, in addition to being a professor and psychiatrist, is a zen priest.
So what did the study say? Well, it covered a lot of ground. The original authors were struck by the destructive power of alcoholism and put a lot of emphasis on documenting that. But awareness and understanding of alcoholism is much greater today than it was decades ago. Waldinger provides a different emphasis today.
We’ll let him tell you in his own words: “So what have we learned? What are the lessons that come from the tens of thousands of pages of information that we’ve generated on these lives? Well, the lessons aren’t about wealth or fame or working harder and harder. The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period.”
Social connections help us be successful and healthy whereas loneliness and isolation doom us to failure and ill health. Furthermore, its important to have good relationships. A stressful marriage may be worse than no marriage. People in good relationships seemed to gain many benefits. For instance, people with good relationships reported feeling happy even on days when they were in a lot of pain, whereas people who lacked good relationships moods were much more likely to deteriorate when they were suffering pain. Perhaps the most surprising benefit, good relationships appear to stave off cognitive decline, keeping our brains sharp as we age. Now let’s move on from Boston to Italy, where research into longevity and happiness continues.
The Village Effect
As psychologist Susan Pinker, author of “The Village Effect” explains in a Ted Talk, it appears that social connection may be the greatest cause of longevity. Her studies of longevity led her to the center of Italy’s “blue zone,” the hamlet of Villagrande on the island of Sardinia. There she discovered cheerful centenarians, and grumpy ones too.
Clean air, low blood pressure, healthy weight, exercise, not smoking, all of theses things are predictors of and likely causes of longevity, but none are as powerful as the social factors, according to Pinker’s research. The most important factor is the strength of your close relationships. The second most important factor is your degree of daily social integration — how much you talk to other people throughout the day. In the village of Villagrande, everyone walks to do errands. Everyone chats with the corner grocer. And great grandmother is not off in a “home” somewhere, she is in the kitchen, helping make pasta with her grandchildren.
Explore The Art of the Good Life With Rascal
Please join us as we continue on our conceptual journey to the heart of the art of the good life. You can follow our articles here on Medium if you have an account, or simply bookmark our Medium page or follow us on Facebook.
Now that we’ve mentioned Harvard, we’ll tell you about the most popular course in the history of Yale, Psychology and the Good Life, and how you can take it for free. Find out how you can add years to your life in our article on the benefits of yoga and let us tell you about what meditation can do to make you more productive and less stressed. Consider our musings on the Midas myth and the common themes of behavioral economist Tibor Scitovsky and the myth of Eros and Psyche. Want to get inspired? We’ve got an article on defining your life project. For insight into the struggle between happiness and perfection, check out our article on satisficers vs maximizers and Bruce Lee’s theory of the top dog and the underdog. We also consider some more abstract topics, like John Maynard Keynes thoughts on the art of life, or non-being and its place at the root of luxury, or the conceptual art color the blackest black, Vantablack. If you are a gourmet, you might want to check out these fine dining restaurants in Bali that could be contenders for a Michelin star. Enjoy!
