Human Happiness

Benjamin P. Hardy

Husband & father of 3. PhD candidate in Organizational Psychology. Author of WILLPOWER DOESN’T WORK.

Apr 25

This 75-Year Harvard Study Shows How To Have Lifetime Joy

Lessons from the longest study on human happiness (TED).

For over 75 years, Harvard’s Grant and Glueck study has tracked the physical and emotional health of two groups:

• 456 poor people in Boston from 1939 to 2014 (the Grant Study)
• 268 graduates from Harvard’s classes of 1939–1944 (the Glueck study)

After following these groups and testing them (e.g., blood samples, brain scans) for several decades, the findings have been compiled.

Here’s the conclusion:

“The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period.” — Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development