1: The year was 2016.  Katherine was visiting the offices of the Harvard Study of Adult Development in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Why? Her father, Leo DeMarco, was one of the original 724 participants in the longest in-depth longitudinal Study of human life ever done.

Now in its eighth decade, the Study had expanded to include three generations and more than 1,300 descendants of those original participants.

“Leo, a high school … continue reading

1: “If you’ve ever seen a picture of your mother or father as a young adult, you know how startling it can be,” Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz write in The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.  

“They seem like people we might have met along the road rather than the parents who created us,” the authors observe.  “They often appear less burdened, more … continue reading

1: The Harvard Study of Adult Development is the longest in-depth longitudinal study of human life ever done.  The study has followed the lives of 724 individuals beginning when they were teenagers, and now spans over three generations and includes an additional 1,300 of their descendants.

“For eighty-four years (and counting), the Harvard Study has tracked the same individuals, asking thousands of questions and taking hundreds of measurements to find … continue reading

1:  Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz get asked many questions.

Bob and Marc are the Director and Associate Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the world’s longest scientific study of happiness.

People often approach them with worried looks and ask: “If I’m shy and have trouble making friends, is the good life out of reach?”

Or, “If I had a bad childhood, am I just totally screwed?”… continue reading

1: The big thinkers say no.

“Money has never made man happy, nor will it,” Ben Franklin once said.

Centuries before, Aristotle wrote: “The life of money-making is one undertaken under compulsion, and wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking; for it is merely useful and for the sake of something else.”

More recently, Maya Angelou observed: “Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love … continue reading

Harvard Study of Human Development, 2003 Questionnaire

Q: “What is the secret to aging well?”

A: “Happiness, caring.  Watch what you’re eating.  Try to get out and do a little walking or exercise.  Have friends.  It’s so good to have friends.” —Harriet Vaughn, Study participant, age 80

1: What does it feel like when we love someone?  Or when we know someone loves us?

“Think about how you experience … continue reading

1: The year was 1946. 

John Marsden and Leo DeMarco were both at major crossroads in their lives,”  Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz write in their book The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.

Both men had volunteered to serve in the military during World War II.  John served stateside, while the Navy assigned Leo to duty in the South Pacific.

Both John and … continue reading

1: “People are terrible at knowing what is good for them,” Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz write in The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.

There are several reasons for this reality.

First is our belief that happiness is something we achieve. “As if it were an award you could frame and hang on the wall,” Bob and Marc write.  

“Or as if it … continue reading

1:  Are we destined to be happy or unhappy?  Loved or lonely?  Does what happened to us in our childhood define us, forever? 

“We get asked questions like this a lot,” Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz write in their book The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.

Bob and Marc are the current Director and Associate Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development… continue reading

1: “What is your greatest fear?” 

Rosa read the question before looking across the kitchen table at her husband, Henry.  

“Now in their 70s, Rosa and Henry had lived in this house and sat at this same table together on most mornings for more than fifty years,” Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz write in The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness.

A pot of … continue reading