Description: A Life Report from Harvard's Brightest Minds — Are There Rules to a Happy Life? "Is there a formula for a happy, healthy life?" Starting in the late 1930s, a Harvard research team followed 268 sophomore students for 72 years in search of the answer to this very question. At the heart of this effort was the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest-running longitudinal study of adult development ever conducted. The conclusion reached in the 21st century was that happiness depends on how many of the seven controllable conditions of happiness a person establishes before age 50 — and that "the most important thing in life is relationships, and happiness, in the end, is love." Over the course of the study, researchers also incorporated 456 men from disadvantaged backgrounds and 90 gifted women, bringing the total number of subjects to 814. Their decades-long life stories come vividly alive, offering a sweeping view of human life and happiness. ◆ Praise for This Book and Its Author ◆ "George Vaillant is the poet of the positive psychology movement. Thanks to him, we positive psychologists have all come to realize how much we crave deeper data." _Martin Seligman | Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, author of Positive Psychology "George Vaillant has studied a small, far-from-representative group — Harvard graduates. Yet his data run much deeper than broad survey research, and he has produced more results than almost anyone else." _Ed Diener | Professor of Psychology, University of Illinois, author of Happiness "268 Harvard men followed for 72 years... The study found that the relationships formed by around age 47 were the most important factor determining the rest of life. Professor George Vaillant, who led the research, concluded that 'the most important thing in life is relationships, and happiness, in the end, is love.'" _The Chosun Ilbo | From the May 14, 2009 article, "The Ordinary Ones Who Succeeded" A Groundbreaking Prospective Longitudinal Study on 'A Healthy, Happy Life' — A Landmark 72-Year Study That Continues Today The Harvard Study of Adult Development has been ongoing since 1937, spanning approximately 72 years as the longest prospective longitudinal study of adult development and growth. Being 'prospective' means that, rather than subjects recalling their 20s while in their 50s, events were recorded as they happened — experiences in one's 20s documented in one's 20s, experiences in one's 50s documented in one's 50s. Completing such a study requires enormous resources, persistent researchers, and the ongoing cooperation of participants — no easy feat. Yet the Harvard research team has carried on this work for over 70 years, and it will only come to a close when the last surviving participant passes away. In June 2009, Joshua Wolf Shenk, a writer for the prestigious American monthly The Atlantic, spent a month closely reporting on the previously unpublished archives of the Harvard Study of Adult Development and its lead researcher, Professor George Vaillant. The resulting in-depth article, "What Makes Us Happy?", generated significant attention alongside Vaillant's original book (this very book), published in 2002. (An excerpt from the article is included at the beginning of this book.) Did the Harvard archives truly hold the 'conditions of happiness' we've been searching for? Happy People — How Did They Stay Happy for So Long? "It is never too late to seek the happiness you'll enjoy for a lifetime. Learning how to live takes an entire life. Keep learning as long as you live." _Dr. Lee Si-hyung | From the Supervisor's Note The Harvard Study of Adult Development examined three groups of subjects. The first was 268 Harvard sophomore men (known as the 'Grant Study'). The second was 90 gifted women selected from the 'Terman Study,' another major longitudinal study focused on gifted children. The third was 456 self-made men who dropped out of high school, drawn from the control group of the 'Glueck Study' on juvenile delinquency — men who had not committed any crimes as teenagers. This book explores...