(2009-06-01) Grant Study Happiness

What allows people to work, and love, as they grow old? By the time the Grant Study men had entered retirement, Vaillant, who had then been following them for a quarter century, had identified seven major factors that predict healthy aging, both physically and psychologically. Employing mature adaptations was one. The others were education, stable marriage, not smoking, not abusing alcohol, some exercise, and healthy weight... What factors don't matter? Vaillant identified some surprises. Cholesterol levels at age 50 have nothing to do with health in old age. While social ease correlates highly with good psychosocial adjustment in college and early adulthood, its significance diminishes over time. The predictive importance of childhood temperament also diminishes over time: shy, anxious kids tend to do poorly in young adulthood, but by age 70, are just as likely as the outgoing kids to be "happy-well."... The study has yielded some additional subtle surprises. Regular exercise in college predicted late-life mental health better than it did physical health. And depression turned out to be a major drain on physical health: of the men who were diagnosed with depression by age 50, more than 70 percent had died or were chronically ill by 63. More broadly, pessimists seemed to suffer physically in comparison with optimists, perhaps because they're less likely to connect with others or care for themselves. (Authentic Happiness)

In contrast to the Grant data, the Glueck study data suggested that industriousness in childhood--as indicated by such things as whether the boys had part-time jobs, took on chores, or joined school clubs or sports teams--predicted adult mental health better than any other factor, including family cohesion and warm maternal relationships. "What we do," Vaillant concluded, "affects how we feel just as much as how we feel affects what we do."

Martin Seligman describes Diener as the "engineer" of positive psychology, "trying to do better, more replicable, more transparent science." Vaillant and his work, though, remind Seligman of the roots of psychology--the study of the soul.

Vaillant's own work provides an uncanny description of his strengths and struggles.