143:," which included a second cohort of 456 disadvantaged, non-delinquent inner-city youths who grew up in Boston neighborhoods between 1940 and 1945. The subjects were all white males and of American nationality. As of 2024, the men continue to be studied. They were evaluated at least every two years by questionnaires through information from their physicians and by personal interviews. Information was gathered about their mental and physical health, career enjoyment, retirement experience and marital quality. The goal of the study was to identify predictors of healthy aging.
40:
303:, George Vaillant's main conclusion is that the warmth of relationships throughout life has the greatest positive impact on life satisfaction. Put differently, Vaillant says the study shows: "Happiness is love. Full stop."
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The study is unique partly because of the long time span of the cohort, and also partly because of the high social status of some of the study participants. Among the most notable Grant Study participants included
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Those who scored highest on measurements of "warm relationships" earned an average of $ 141,000 a year more at their peak salaries (usually between ages 55 and 60).
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Late in their professional lives, the men's boyhood relationships with their mothers—but not with their fathers—were associated with effectiveness at work.
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Men with relationship satisfaction were healthier in old age: Those that thrived in their relationships at 50 were more physically healthy at 80 years old.
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George
Vaillant, who directed the study for more than three decades, has published a summation of the key insights the study has yielded in the book
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Men who had "warm" childhood relationships with their mothers earned an average of $ 87,000 more a year than men whose mothers were uncaring.
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No significant difference in maximum income earned by men with IQs in the 110–115 range and men with IQs higher than 150.
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describes a time when the inner-city men were 70 years old and those of the
Harvard group were 80. In 2012, Vaillant and
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Together with associated cigarette smoking, alcoholism was the single greatest contributor to early morbidity and death.
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Men who had poor childhood relationships with their mothers were much more likely to develop dementia when old.
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The study, its methodology, and results are described in three books by a principal investigator in the study,
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The warmth of childhood relationships with mothers had no significant bearing on "life satisfaction" at 75.
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540:"Over nearly 80 years, Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life"
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Alcoholism was the main cause of divorce between the Grant Study men and their wives.
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It strongly correlates with neurosis and depression that followed the alcohol abuse.
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is an 85-year continuing longitudinal study from the Study of Adult
Development at
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429:"George E. Vaillant, Triumphs of Experience: The Men of the Harvard Grant Study"
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Political-mindedness correlates with intimacy: aging liberals have more sex.
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Financial success depends on warmth of relationships, not on intelligence.
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The most-conservative men ceased sexual relations at an average age of 68.
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Triumphs of
Experience: The Men of the Harvard Grant Study
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The most-liberal men had active sex lives into their 80s.
166:, which shared more findings from the Grant Study.
370:"Lessons from the world's longest happiness study"
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538:Writer, Liz Mineo Harvard Staff (2017-04-11).
479:Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness
280:warmth of childhood relationship with fathers
259:warmth of childhood relationship with mothers
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218:is a disorder of great destructive power.
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291:Increased "life satisfaction" at age 75.
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523:Shenk, Joshua Wolf (1 June 2009).
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18:Harvard Study of Adult Development
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500:"Harvard Second Generation Staff"
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565:"What Makes Us Happy, Revisited"
346:"What Makes Us Happy, Revisited"
606:discussing the study's findings
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288:Greater enjoyment of vacations.
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179:Massachusetts General Hospital
171:The Study of Adult Development
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344:Stossel, Scott (2013-04-25).
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285:Lower rates of adult anxiety.
261:matters long into adulthood:
27:Continuing longitudinal study
427:Wink, Paul M. (2014-04-01).
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604:Robert Waldinger's TED Talk
563:Stossel, Scott (May 2013).
325:William T. Grant Foundation
107:William T. Grant Foundation
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162:published the third book,
625:American medical research
527:– via The Atlantic.
445:10.1007/s12115-014-9760-7
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160:Harvard University Press
68:Cambridge, Massachusetts
593:Article about the study
175:Dr. Robert J. Waldinger
525:"What Makes Us Happy?"
475:"Robert Waldinger, MD"
164:Triumphs of Experience
137:Harvard Medical School
120:.adultdevelopmentstudy
169:The study is part of
630:Psychiatric research
124:/grantandglueckstudy
79:William Thomas Grant
46:William Thomas Grant
409:Vaillant, George E.
394:Vaillant, George E.
195:, and US President
192:The Washington Post
620:Harvard University
397:Adaptation to Life
152:Adaptation to Life
150:. The first book,
58:Longitudinal study
282:correlated with:
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148:George Vaillant
133:The Grant Study
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54:Type of project
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572:. Retrieved
569:The Atlantic
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547:. Retrieved
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504:harvardstudy
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483:. Retrieved
481:. 2019-01-04
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376:. 2024-01-02
374:www.wbur.org
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350:The Atlantic
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328:. Retrieved
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300:The Atlantic
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203:Main results
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187:Ben Bradlee
156:Aging Well,
95:Established
614:Categories
549:2023-03-01
509:2022-12-30
485:2022-12-30
412:Aging Well
380:2024-05-08
355:2024-02-19
330:2024-05-08
307:References
216:Alcoholism
85:Key people
574:24 August
461:143278769
453:0147-2011
321:"History"
64:Location
44:Founder
433:Society
113:Website
103:Funding
75:Founder
48:in 1966
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414:, 2002
399:, 1977
70:, U.S.
457:S2CID
576:2022
449:ISSN
278:The
257:The
122:.org
98:1938
595:in
441:doi
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177:at
118:www
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