Triumphs of Experience - The Men of the Harvard Grant Study by George E. Vaillant | Goodreads
Want to Read
Rate this book
1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
Preview
Triumphs of Experience - The Men of the Harvard Grant Study
by
George E. Vaillant
4.14 · Rating details · 696 Ratings · 82 Reviews
At a time when many people around the world are living into their 10th decade, the longest longitudinal study of human development ever undertaken offers some welcome news for the new old age: Our lives continue to evolve in our later years and often become more fulfilling than before.
Begun in 1938, the Grant Study of Adult Development charted the physical and emotional health of over 200 men, starting with their undergraduate days. The now-classic Adaptation to Life reported on the men's lives up to age 55 and helped us understand adult maturation. Now George Vaillant follows the men into their 90s, documenting for the first time what it is like to flourish far beyond conventional retirement.
Reporting on all aspects of male life - including relationships, politics and religion, coping strategies, and alcohol use - Triumphs of Experience shares a number of surprising findings. For example, the people who do well in old age did not necessarily do so well in midlife and vice versa. While the study confirms that recovery from a lousy childhood is possible, memories of a happy childhood are a lifelong source of strength. Marriages bring much more contentment after age 70, and physical aging after 80 is determined less by heredity than by habits formed prior to age 50. The credit for growing old with grace and vitality, it seems, goes more to ourselves than to our stellar genetic makeup.
GET A COPY
Kobo
Online Stores ▾
Book Links ▾
Hardcover, 457 pages
Published October 23rd 2012 by Harvard University Press
ISBN
0674059824 (ISBN13: 9780674059825)
Edition Language
English
Review of ISBN 9780674059825
Rating
1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
Shelves to-read
edit
( 181st )
Format Hardcover edit
Status
September 18, 2018 – Shelved as: to-read
September 18, 2018 – Shelved
Review Add a review
comment
FRIEND REVIEWS
Recommend This Book None of your friends have reviewed this book yet.
READER Q&A
Ask the Goodreads community a question about Triumphs of Experience - The Men of the Harvard Grant Study
Be the first to ask a question about Triumphs of Experience - The Men of the Harvard Grant Study
COMMUNITY REVIEWS
(showing 1-30)
Rating details
Sort: Default
|
Filter
Feb 06, 2014Suzanne Stroh rated it really liked it
Shelves: science-technology
Here we meet WASP men at work and play, and a little bit in love. Proving the paramount importance of love in a cold climate.
This book reports on the groundbreaking Harvard Grant study of educated American white men's lives and health, begun in 1937, that is still active today. The study tries to define optimal male health not just by gathering physical data from its 200-plus subjects, many of whom are still alive into their nineties, but also by tracking achievements (attainments) that can be measured. Yes, this is a goal oriented study of a process called living well.
Its longtime director (who also spent a significant period directing the complimentary Glueck study of "inner city" (read: urban, working class, non-WASP Boston) men) makes a passionate and persuasive case for funding more studies like this. He exhaustively reminds us of the social and scientific value of longitudinal studies, schooling us in the difference between prospective data (what you collect along the way, giving real-time snapshots of the lives of your subjects) and retrospective data (the stuff your subjects report to you about their pasts).
The aim of the study was to choose healthy, 19 year-old American male subjects (because men don't change their surnames and so you could track them better, Vaillant explains!) in an effort to define and possibly predict health over a lifetime. It's secondary goal was to paint portraits of optimal male health at every stage of life--to model adult development, which had never before been studied scientifically.
It was a study designed to benefit the Army gearing up for WW2. It was seed-funded by a forward-thinking entrepreneur, retail tycoon W.T. Grant, who wanted to identify great managers. When his practical aims repeatedly clashed with the eugenics-keen Harvard scientists, the Grant funding dried up. Tobacco funding stepped in, just like in "Mad Men," with grantors mining the data for habits and motivations that could sell cigarettes. And so the study limped along, never really gaining the financial footing it needed or deserved, but always shepherded by researchers mindful of its rarity value. Psychiatrist George Vaillant was among them, a passionate seeker of wisdom through "scientific" data. Ironically, the W.T. Grant Foundation is among the sustaining donors again today. The study is now doing brain studies and collecting DNA samples from subjects who are still alive. The Harvard Grant study itself is now thriving into its seventh decade. Quite an achievement.
The findings of this study so far are startling and profound. They offer the best known proof of the major role that love and secure attachment play in human health. Everybody hoping to live a good life will get something out of this book.i agree with anther reviewer that 60 year olds may be the target readers. But the book is also an important document for readers who want to see the flaws of "the helping professions" up close and personal. It is as much about the people who designed and administered the study as the study itself. And these doctors and scientists were not always wise or profound, or even insightful, even though they were seeking the source of wisdom and longevity.
There is a Puritanical American bias and a focus on business, medicine and law that is particularly galling. The men studied were all born around 1918, the end of WWI that marked the rise of the US to world primacy after WW2. But where else would a sample of 19 year old men be chosen where two-thirds of the youths are terrified of sex at 19 and where none appeared to have had any sexual experience? The problem compounded itself when subjects refused to return questionnaires that asked about their sex lives. In my view, the problem lay with the researchers themselves, who seemed just as prudish. Why didn't they inform the subjects that joining the study meant responding to questions about sex--a biological drive--and what on earth is "sexual adjustment?" The subjects were asked about this, but who knows what it means?
These men came to Harvard with a wide variety of social backgrounds. Most, of course, had considerable aptitude and some arrived with notable achievements, but they and their researchers all appeared to be boys (not very independent) pretty sheltered from developmental experiences (like falling in love, bonding during peacetime and wartime, and sexual initiation) that were de rigeur for their European counterparts. They are youthful life experiences that today's teenagers take for granted, and this definitely makes a reader wonder about the universality (if not relevancy) of many conclusions for living people under 50.
The eugenic biases of 1937 led to the appointment of researchers who measured scrotums and craniums but never asked about friendships or girlfriends, let alone boyfriends, for decades. This data turns out to fuel the core finding--that finding love alone (not status or money or lifelong monogamy in marriage) is universally or at least significantly linked to a long, happy life. As better statisticians have commented in their reviews, the 1937-1941 selection methodology (how they chose whom to study) had problems that weaken some of the statistical analysis. Which parts? I would love to read an article for general readers that explains this weakness more clearly.
It is unfortunate that all we get are data from white Harvard College men. There is not a single adoptee, person of color or mature, healthy woman described in full, either by the study or in the story of its analysis. Anthropologist Margaret Mead is quoted for saying she had three successful marriages, but George Vaillant must know that they were all underlain by Mead's lifelong and much more passionate love affair with a woman. The quote gives the false impression that Mead was hetero and monogamous. The whole subject of sexual exclusivity (monogamy) as a component of a "happy marriage" is given short shrift in a study that was designed to observe happy marriages. In response, only an emoticon will do: ??????
I was astounded by many of the assumptions that underpinned the questionnaires administered to the men. The goal oriented approach had me rolling my eyes throughout. "Fatherhood" seemed like a totem notch--something attained, presumably through the acquisition of a helpmeet wife and the privilege of ejaculating inside her, because it was never shown to have been worked at. And statistics show that men worldwide father twice as many children than they claim paternity of. Why wasn't this very common human story reflected in any of the men's lives reported in the book?
None of the questionnaires asked about the details of parenting, asked whether the subject had ever done any primary parenting, or dealt satisfactorily with the effects of parenting on health and marriage. Since fathering and a good marriage were among the measured outcomes of optimum health, I found this generally naive and often even mysogenistic. It also posed problems when I tried to understand the causes of divorce (besides alcoholism). Did divorce tend to happen before or after children were born? How old were children when divorces happened? Isn't it likely that married fathers' health depends hugely on the life stages, attainments and challenges of their wives, the mothers of their children? We know from another study, for instance, that divorced men nearly always want to remarry, while divorced women nearly always do not. We also know that married men's blood pressure goes down as they drive up the driveway at home; women's blood pressure goes sky high. For couples who stay together in long marriages, these factors and more must certainly affect men's health. I would like to read more about this inter relativity.
The author's love of Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky endeared me to him, but he made little convincing mention of the discoveries made in music, language, culture and ethnography, philosophy, painting, exploration, history, biography, or any of the decorative arts and sciences when grounding the findings in what we already know to have been observed by masters of the humanities. This study has not yet produced that depth of humanity and nuance in exploring lifetimes scientifically. Art remains the truer and deeper record of beautiful, meaningful human lives well lived.
As a woman, an adoptee and a lesbian, searching for wisdom in this study often felt like learning to appreciate Broderie Anglaise--the art of the hole.
An adoptee needs to understand, for instance, why the early death of a maternal grandfather predicts bad health for an adult American man.
Yes, we need many more and more widely varied studies like this one. Good health is more important to study than bad. This book has convinced me. Every generation of explorers will lead flawed approaches. Only with a lot of committed explorers worldwide will we finally begin to really map the territory of rich long lives being beautifully led everywhere on Earth. I find, having read this book, that I am more interested, not less, in pioneers like George Vaillant. I want to see the magnificence that we get glimmers of here. I want to see it in boys and girls, women as well as men. I want to see it in full before I die. And on the basis of engendering that hope alone, this book gets four stars from me. (less)
flag7 likes · Like · comment · see review
Dec 01, 2012Andrew Meyer rated it really liked it
This is a fantastic book, but it really has a target audience. If you are a successful, college, male graduate who has choices about what you do and how you live, this book as interesting insight. What decisions that people made at different times in their life ended up being most important.
If you have that opportunity financially, educationally and personally, read this book. If you're not in that position, this book's probably not so interesting.
flag6 likes · Like · 1 comment · see review
Jan 01, 2013Margaret Sankey rated it liked it
Vaillant took the helm of the longest-running longitudinal study in American social science when he was a young researcher and the study had already been going for 30 years. Beginning in 1937, the study, funded by a retail magnate to identify key traits in management prospects (with later interest from the Army and tobacco companies), selected 268 Harvard sophomores to track, assuming that they were ideal social and academic paragons, easy to track for the study and likely to give the best of American manhood results. By monitoring them consistently over the years, some very interesting things happened--researchers realized the men changed their views of the past, romanticizing things, or suddenly realizing that something they thought was normal had been abusive or excessive (1930s parenting, 1950s drinking), they were capable of mellowing out in mid-life about religion and their kids, often found new purpose in grandkids and second marriages or second careers. Along the way, the researchers involved realized they could use this data for WWII and Korean War PTSD studies, involve spouses, take more sophisticated brain scans and DNA and collect data that future scientists may think of a use for later. The most interesting thing about this is the correlation with other longitudinal studies of non-WASP men of their generation. Across racial and class lines, good health and financial success can be associated with two major things: a stable childhood with some responsible loving adult and higher education. Even those wealthy study participants who had every other advantage but lacked one or both of these had a far harder time. (less)
flag3 likes · Like · comment · see review
May 29, 2018Rebecca rated it really liked it
One of those books I am so glad I read. Such a fascinating longitudinal study, the book is written by a former head of this study which analyzed the lives of several hundred Harvard men over the entire course of their lives. I appreciated his insight and analysis of the data. One of the major findings is that what leads to the most fulfillment in life is the quality of a person's relationships. I feel a renewed desire to be kinder and more loving with my family and friends and to prioritize my relationships. Another of the major findings may be uncomfortable for some to hear, but it is the complete devastation that alcohol can have on marriages and relationships. In the study it proved to be the number one reason why marriages failed. The author was clear to point out that with this type of study it was important to follow where the data led them, a principle they closely followed. I look forward to hearing more about the data coming out of the study in the years to come. (less)
flag2 likes · Like · 2 comments · see review
Mar 15, 2013Sanju rated it it was amazing
Shelves: well-being-and-development, boys, set-aside-but-coming-back-to
Loving this book. Fascinating, fascinating ...
I was drawn to this book in particular because of the learnings on male development as outlined by Vaillant. But, aside from that, there seems to be a societal attitude that men are privileged and hence require research on their physical well-being but not so much on their long-term emotional well-being. However, increasingly, from many directions, the conclusion that physical well-being, the ability to thrive into old age physically cannot be divorc ...more
flag2 likes · Like · see review
Feb 16, 2013Catherine Read rated it it was amazing
This is such an important work. One of the only longitudinal studies of its kind, this follows a cohort of Harvard men from the ages of 19 to over 90 in a study that spans over 75 years. It is enlightening in so many ways and the style of the author (and study researcher) George Vaillant is so engaging to read. He is about 15 years younger than the study subjects and as they grew and matured, so did he. He came to his own realizations about what adult development means in very concrete terms, an ...more
flag2 likes · Like · comment · see review
Mar 29, 2014Kate rated it it was amazing
Shelves: library-books
Phew this was a bit of a slog - really really interesting but not a fast read. Much of what George Vaillant had to say was profound and useful both personally and professionally. At times I needed to reread whole paragraphs to understand his intent as they started off saying one thing but turned into another! That said each of these paragraphs contained pearls worth taking the time to decipher. Of particular interest were the chapters on Alcoholism , Resilience and Adult maturation.
The Grant Stu ...more
flag2 likes · Like · comment · see review
Jun 09, 2013Sean rated it really liked it
Vaillant makes use of an extensive set of longitudinal data on Harvard men to determine what leads to enduring fulfillment and joy in their lives. Living through a warm childhood, abstaining from alcoholism and smoking, coping effectively with failure, and permitting love and attachment score high on his list of factors that contribute to beneficial outcomes. This book also depicts several useful misconceptions that the author effectively debunks and several surprising outcomes: for instance, members of his study who attend graduate school live longer than those with a college degree by four years with a difference statistically significant. The decision to attend graduate school should not just involve a net present value calculation of maximizing the present value of future earnings; a greater number of years of life also await.
While I estimate given the book's cover and its contents that the average age of a reader of this book will exceed 40, it also deserves a read from young readers to take head of many of Vaillant's findings. (less)
flag2 likes · Like · comment · see review
Dec 22, 2016David rated it it was amazing
As a 28 year-old man, I acutely feel the impending pressures and complexities of pursuing career consolidation, intimacy, health, generativity (making babies and stuff) amongst others. Triumphs of Experience offers the perfect antidote to the dreaded quarter-/one-third-life crises as it narrates and studies the realities that, "adult development continues long after adolescence, that character is not set in plaster, and that people do change." Vailant pulls data from 70+ years of studying Harvard undergraduates to their 90s, or to their deaths, and weaves a beautiful picture of how, although a life is short, its effects and permutations take decades to realize -- because you're ahead or behind at 30 doesn't mean you will be at 65... the road is long. Amidst the many profound axioms Vailant offers, the one that stands out the most is "omnia vincit amor": love conquers all. (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review
Nov 15, 2016Vance rated it really liked it
Shelves: effective-leadership
George Vaillant explains his lifetime work on the Harvard Grant Study that follows many men at Harvard that provides a very interesting longitudinal analysis about a number of factors that lead to a long life, divorce, emotional agility, alcoholism, and more.
The key to a longer, happier life is having loved ones around you, whether that's a spouse, family member, or friend.
A key problem with divorce is alcoholism, which tends to be a genetic factor that can be very difficult to overcome.
There are excellent stories of several of the men in the study. Of course, there are a number of shortcomings of the study, such as studying only men and basing the analysis on survey data, but overall it is a vey interesting book and one that I learned much that I should work on and others to avoid.
Check it out for yourself. (less)
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review
Oct 05, 2014JQAdams rated it it was ok
There's a fascinating story in here somewhere -- two, really, one about the operation of the decades-long study that is the focus of the book and another about the findings of that study. But the author would in this case much rather preen about how great longitudinal studies are (which they are! But frequently not for the reasons mooted here) and about how everything goes to prove that what really matters is love and interpersonal connections. That conclusion, while plausible, would have been more persuasive if presented with less gooey repetitiveness and more control variables. (less)
flag1 like · Like · see review
Jul 25, 2014Niniane Wang rated it it was amazing
Interesting insights based on a longitudinal study of 200+ men for 70 years! Alcoholism is hereditary and the biggest reason for marriages failing. A warm childhood is predictive of success, but a bad childhood can be overcome. Love relationships are what makes us truly happy. People grow and change throughout their lives -- even a life that was devoid until age 50 can still flower into an amazing old-age. All these backed up with scientific regressions plus anecdotal case studies!
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review
Nov 05, 2016Pamela Bayer rated it really liked it
The only lifetime longitudinal study completed on health and happiness in the world....although some insights are outdated, it's still very informative. The conclusion of the study is simply put in the words of John Lennon, "Love is all you need".
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review
Nov 29, 2014Katy rated it really liked it
This is a fascinating book about a longitudinal study of Harvard undergraduates from 1938 up to the present day. It's interesting to learn how their childhoods, personalities, and habits influence the trajectory of their lives. Highly recommended!
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review
Jun 24, 2017Johnny rated it it was amazing
Analysis of one of the longest longitudinal studies ever conducted. It tracks over 70 decades of life of a group of Harvard students. A road map looked through the rear mirror, reflecting the possibilities men can achieve (or not achieve) over a lifetime.
flag1 like · Like · comment · see review
Oct 21, 2015Richard rated it it was amazing
a must read
flag1 like · Like · see review
Mar 06, 2017Marco Pontual rated it it was amazing
Triunfos da Experiência
Quer viver bem até os 100?
Um bom começo é absorver algumas das informações geradas a partir do estudo mais longo já feito sobre o assunto: o Estudo de Harvard Sobre o Desenvolvimento Adulto.
Foram mais de 75 anos de estudo acompanhando as fases da vida adulta de 268 alunos de Harvard, de 1939 até hoje.
Teve gente que tinha tudo para dar certo e morreu na pior, e teve gente que tirou forças sabe-se lá de onde e viveu uma velhice linda, cheia de vida e amor.
Os achados são muito fascinantes, e o estilo em que o livro foi escrito, também. O autor mistura narrativas estatísticas com algumas histórias de vida que representam os dados apresentados.
Um dos pontos mais relevantes do livro, na opinião do autor, é que ele reestabeleceu a validade científica dos chamados "mecanismos involutários de defesa", defendido pelos Freud (pai e filha), e os colocou como centrais na vivência de uma trajetória feliz.
"Mas o que é um mecanismo involuntário de defesa?", você me pergunta. Resumindo, é assim: sabe as emoções negativas que às vezes nos invadem, por razões diversas? Então. A gente geralmente faz alguma coisa com esse sentimento, para retomar o equilíbrio, certo? Tem gente que quebra coisa, tem gente que xinga os outros, tem gente que se fecha e não fala nada, tem gente que chora... Pois bem, o Freud (e o George Vaillant, autor do livro) defendem que essas são as maneiras que nós temos de recuperar o equilíbrio mental; são os nossos mecanismos involuntários de defesa (ou de enfrentamento).
Esses mecanismos podem ser classificados como mais ou menos maduros (isto é, com mais ou menos chances de despertar a empatia dos outros e melhorar a nossa situação no curto e no longo prazo). Quebrar as coisas, como você pode imaginar, está na categoria dos mecanismos pouco empáticos. Rir, suprimir ou sublimar (redirecionar a angústia para a pintura de um quadro ou para a escrita de uma revisão de livro) são consideradas formas maduras de enfrentar as vicissitudes da vida.
De forma geral, os mecanismos que colocam a culpa nos outros tendem a ser classificados como menos maduros (e menos eficazes), e os mecanismos que te colocam como o encarregado principal de resolver seus próprios problemas são considerados mais maduros. Com o passar dos anos, é esperado que as pessoas passem de mecanismos imaturos a mecanismos maduros. Quem não passa tem grandes chances de se tornar um adulto socialmente isolado, porque mecanismos imaturos de defesa tendem a afastar as pessoas (quem quer um amigo que enfrenta os problemas da vida como uma criança?)
Mas o livro tem mais, tem muito mais. É difícil resumir um trabalho abarrotado de dados como esse. Tem que ler. Mas vou compartilhar com vocês alguns dos achados bacanas:
1. Relacionamento carinhoso com a mãe, na infância, se correlacionou significativamente com boa auto-estima no adulto (obrigado mamãe), mais eficácia no trabalho, maiores salários e menores índices de demência na velhice;
2. Relacionamento carinhoso com o pai, na infância, se correlacionou com menores índices de ansiedade, maior capacidade de aproveitar as férias e maior satisfação com a vida aos 75 anos;
3. Homens politicamente mais conservadores tenderam a encerrar as atividades sexuais, em média, aos 68 anos; liberais, aos 80 e poucos (sugiro jogar essa no grupo da família do Whatsapp);
4. Ao contrário do que se pensava, o alcoolismo (altamente genético) apareceu como causa, e não como consequência, de uma vida infeliz. E foi o maior responsável por divórcios no estudo;
5. Tudo é amor: quanto mais relacionamentos carinhosos você tiver na vida, maiores as chances de uma velhice satisfatória. E é aí que entram os mecanismos involuntários de defesa: se você faz uso de estratégias maduras (empáticas) para enfrentar os trancos da vida, provavelmente estará aumentando a probabilidade de as pessoas manterem vínculos saudáveis com você. Tente reconhecer seus mecanismos de defesa e dar um upgrade neles. Só para constar, uma das estratégias mais maduras de enfrentamento é o altruísmo: você resolve as suas neuras ajudando os outros.
Mas a maior lição do livro, para mim, foi que as pessoas mudam. Eu achava que, a partir de certa idade, ninguém mudasse mais. E talvez muita gente, de fato, não mude. Mas muita gente muda, e isso já valeu o estudo para mim.
Pode terminar citando Aristóteles?
"A felicidade não é obra de um só dia, nem de pouco tempo, mas de uma vida inteira." (less)
flagLike · comment · see review
Mar 30, 2018Stephanie Thoma rated it it was amazing
Shelves: personal-development
"Triumphs of Experience" details the 'cream of the crop,' from college until death, with in-depth interviews of their lifestyle habits and relationships to serve as the gold standard of what to do to live the longest, healthiest and happiest life, and also a few common ways to f-it all up.
I was taken aback by the level of thoughtfulness, thoroughness, and practicality of Vaillant's work. Also thankful that despite pushback, and altering the angle to secure funding (tobacco, alcohol, etc.) to keep the study of 268 men afloat, the study persisted for over 75 years!
Here are some of the noteworthy findings:
- Men with close sibling relationships made $51k more (2009 dollars) more per year than those w/o close sibling ties
- The number one thing people learn from their kids? The depth of love.
- Ease in endurance running is more correlated with successful relationships than physical health
- "When you grow old, you get to know women and doctors."
- What goes right is more important than what goes wrong (the main sentiment of life in older age)
- Alcoholism is the most common reason for divorce
- "Two healthy people can easily have a good marriage, but a great marriage takes a lucky match between two neurotics. " :)
- Early mental health factors predicted nothing of health at 80. Men with bleakest childhoods lived only 1.5 years less than those w/ the warmest.
- Hierarchy of defenses: 1. psychotic (delusional, projection, denial, distortion), 2. immature (acting out, passive aggression, dissociation), 3. intermediate (intellectualization, repression), 4. mature (altruism, humor, sublimation- converting pain into art/redirecting focus to lucrative activity, suppression).
- Political affiliation tended to hold true for 50+ years once decided upon but made no difference in the quality of parenting, etc.
- Sexual activity in liberals lasted until age 85, and conservatives, 68, on average
- Planful competence and dependability as childhood traits correlated with thriving in ages 60-85 (less)
flagLike · comment · see review
Aug 24, 2018Jenny rated it liked it
Another book read as a favor for a friend--this turned out to be much more interesting than I expected. Somehow Vaillant makes potentially dry, statistical analyses riveting. I couldn't help but apply some of the lessons learned from this prospective study going on 80 years to my own life. I appreciated the author's clinical approach, and yet his own distinct voice, often describing his reactions and attachments to these men whom he knew and studied for decades. I liked the chapter about coping skills--maybe my sublimation and repression of all the horrors I see and experience at work is actually healthy. Also comforting is that assumptions made early in the study (men without strong father figures, or men with mean mothers, or men who had huge personal losses would be psychopaths or stunted in life and marriage) were proven more complex than initially thought. Seems like the bottom line is that people develop for their lifetimes, childhood trauma becomes less important with time, and alcoholism is the most important factor in divorces.
Mostly, I liked reading about these men, many of whom expressed themselves beautifully, with openness and emotion and humor that, when I find it in real life, reflects something divine.
"With maturity comes the capacity and the willingness to express emotion in meaningful words."
Depressing quote of a man who scored their marriage poorly, "She likes her beer." Dang.
(less)
flagLike · comment · see review
Nov 16, 2016Farraas Muhdiar rated it it was amazing
Shelves: psychology, favorites
Finally found another great book to be raved about. This book is about the participants of The Harvard Grant Study, a longitudinal study about human development that was conducted in 75 years.
The book talks about the importance of warm childhood for a man's future, and its strong correlation with income and life satisfaction when the participant got old. Loving childhood is a better predictor of success throughout life than family SES!
I also love the book because it tells me about the development of psychology (as a science) for the last 75 years, about how well a research could be if we collect both quantitative & qualitative data, and about soooo many life lessons.
If you're captivated by study about human (but you'd rather read a book that feels like a novel rather than the academic articles) or a research-based-self-help-books enthusiast, then the book is definitely for you. Definitely a recommended read! (less)
flagLike · comment · see review
Feb 07, 2018Robert rated it it was amazing
Triumphs of Experience summarizes much of the work of the Grant longitudinal study of Harvard male graduates from 1938 to 1942This well written account can be understood, with much effort, by the lay reader, but it is a slog. Lots of writing justifying the study's methodology and administration, all too the good. Case studies illustrating some of the findings make the more esoteric sections of the book accessible to the general reader. But the book is still a slog. I seldom do not finish a book...more
flagLike · comment · see review
Oct 28, 2017Judit Gueta rated it it was amazing
As a mother of three little boys I have to say that this book took off a good deal of pressure from me. The bad things fade. - the good things matter and last. (No spoiler, the author starts with this.)
The chapter on alcoholism is very important and interesting. It added to my understanding of other addictions as well (like sugar...).
flagLike · comment · see review
Jul 02, 2017Arman Fesharaki rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
An excellent and comprehensive book!
I throughly enjoyed reading the Triumphs of Experience. It is the embodiment of decades of hard research and detailed account on successful aging, and what are the potential predictors of a happy fulfilled life. I recommend this book to all the curious souls out three.
flagLike · comment · see review
Mar 13, 2018Rick rated it it was amazing
A fascinating book. When I encountered new insights, which was often, I was underlining and writing in the margins.
flagLike · comment · see review
Dec 29, 2017Peter M rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Too much in stats but a good read, especially the chapter on Eric Ericson.
flagLike · comment · see review
Aug 31, 2017Jo rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
A lot of compelling data and some surprises. Worth the time to read it.
flagLike · comment · see review
===========
Top customer reviews
C. Esposito-Bernard
4.0 out of 5 starsinsight, data, and graceAugust 15, 2016
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
I'm a father of two boys. I read this book because I wanted to see if there were seeds I could plant now, while they are young, that would bear fruit 40 or 60 years from now. I wondered what could do now to help them live full and meaningful lives. I also wondered if I would be able to avoid making mistakes.
For those reasons, I read this book slowly, taking nearly a year to read every word. I can't help wonder if the time thinking about this was more fruitful or the data in and of itself, but of course the answer is both.
Taking the time, thinking about these men, and imagining how the lessons learned could be grafted into the lives of my sons has been incredibly helpful. And I am so very grateful that George Valliant wrote this book.
It did not chart a map, but it set a course that affirmed over and over again that the things you get right matter more than the things you do wrong and love is enough to bring about great joy.
12 people found this helpful
Helpful Comment Report abuse
Rishikesha Krishnan
5.0 out of 5 starsThe Power of Longitudinal ResearchDecember 5, 2012
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Some of the oldest and most contentious debates on human beings centre around the relative influence of heredity (genetics), environment and individual voluntary action on growth and development. These include whether mental illness has genetic origins, what factors determine "success" in life, and whether adults continue to "develop" as they grow older (or whether all development happens before a certain age). These questions cross disciplinary boundaries as they involve concepts from psychology, psychiatry, sociology, and genetics.
Great thinkers like Freud and Erikson made significant contributions to these debates, but many of their contributions were based on intuitive theorizing rather than rigorous empirical evidence. With time and careful research, some of their theories have been upheld, and others disproved! The studies that have made the most impact are longitudinal studies in which a carefully chosen cohort of respondents was tracked periodically over an extended period of time.
The Harvard Grant Study
One of the most well known of these studies is the Havard Grant study which commenced in the late 1930s and early 1940s and continues till this day. The survivors of the cohort (who were Harvard sophomores when they were recruited) have now entered their 90s, and the data collected therefore allows several inferences to be drawn on adult development.
George F. Vaillant was the director of the Harvard Grant Study for over two decades. His latest book, The Triumphs of Experience, presents the latest findings. I found it a fascinating read as it not only uncovers new insights, but also questions some of the conclusions reached at earlier stages of the study. The Harvard Grant Study draws its conclusions from rigorous multivariate analysis, but Vaillant presents the findings with a distinctive and rare combination of statistical rigour and empathy for his subjects - in addition to tables containing the statistical results, there are profiles (disguised, of course) of different respondents of the study, and these give the reader a sense of being part of the study team.
The original design and subsequent evolution of the study show how much our models of adult development have changed over time. At the time the study started, physical constitution and mental health indicators were expected to be important predictors of subsequent progress of the study. Parental/family relationships and childhood upbringing were thought to be unimportant. Yet, the latest Harvard Grant Study findings show that loving relationships during childhood are important for longevity and success in life.
Findings of the Harvard Grant Study
Some of the important findings of this study reported in The Triumphs of Experience:
Individuals develop through their adult lives as well, not only upto the stage of adolescence.
The impact of childhood trauma decreases over time; more importantly, the positive experiences of a loving childhood have enduring impact.
Being well integrated and self-driving while young helps people live longer.
Divorce led to happier marriages than the bottom third of sustaining marriages.
Alcoholism had bigger negative impacts than measured by most previous studies. It accounted for more than half of the divorces in the Grant Study. The study shows that it is unlikely that alcoholics can return safely to social drinking, thereby upholding the methodologies followed by organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous.
The involuntary coping styles predicted by Freud exist, and they are important for human effectiveness.
Important Lessons for Management of Long-term Research Programs
The Harvard Grant Study is interesting from a research management perspective as well. Over its 70+ year lifespan so far, the study has transcended several research directors and team members, but the integrity of the study has not been compromised. George Vaillant estimates that about $ 20 million has been spent on the study over time, with an average cost of $10,000 per research paper published. The study has had different sponsors at different times, and while the study had to adapt itself to the priorities of these sponsors (such as a major retailer, cigarette company and a program against alcoholism), it still managed to sustain the collection of data related to its core research questions.
With its emphasis on the choice of appropriate control variables and other related issues of study design, this book is a great primer on how to design and adapt longitudinal research studies for maximum research impact.
Rishikesha Krishnan, IIM Bangalore
Read less
80 people found this helpful
Helpful Comment Report abuse
E. N. Anderson
4.0 out of 5 starsGlad I'm old....February 26, 2014
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Well, start with full disclosure: I'm a Harvard man too, from a much later class than the subjects of this study. But the study consciously sought the crème de la crème: the students with the best physical, social, and intellectual profiles. With my notably modest accomplishments in all those areas, I'd never have gotten near the study.
So, what does it prove that a very elite group of people mostly did well in life? Not much. The interest attaches to the few who did NOT do so well. Many transcended a rough childhood, but few could manage a lifetime of being locked in self, or a lifetime of drinking too much, or a lifetime of defending oneself too successfully against love and companionship. Some did find love and/or sobriety late, but personality mattered. A simple metric--extraversion minus neuroticism on the standard personality scale--predicted an awful lot.
Another reviewer has pinpointed some problems with the statistics here. I would add that scoring big, vague, fuzzy concepts as if they were precise is always problematic. The study did its best--using independent raters, over time--and I think did a very good job, but between this scoring and the problem of using simple bivariate statistics, I sometimes wondered about the conclusions. There is also the problem that the study researchers ran, apparently, hundreds of correlations, so when something shows up as significant at .01, you should be a bit skeptical. Striking, though, are the many that showed up significant at .001, a rather rare thing in psychology.
One problem is the list of defenses. Some are "immature," including "autistic fantasy," whatever that is; how is it different from ordinary fantasy? What little I got in life was due to my fantasizing in youth and then acting on it--"dream big dreams, then put on your overalls," as people used to say. Conversely, "mature" defenses include things like altruism, which seems to me neither unique to "maturity" nor a "defense." It's a natural human thing. No one is more altruistic than a little kid--she may throw a fit over "Mine!" in the sandbox, but will then turn right round and give the prized toy to a friend, or to Mom. Humor also is classified as a "mature defense." It is neither mature nor a defense--it's normal human behavior, again seen more often in kids than in grown-ups. Of course you can use it defensively, but that's a different issue. And my favorite defense, denial, is not listed--doesn't it qualify any more? Where would I have been without denial (which, as my daughter is fond of reminding me, is not a river in Egypt)? I would have recognized my own limitations much sooner, to my considerable loss. Those fantasies paid off thanks to hard work and a lot of luck. Realism would have done me in. One must remember that defenses are there for a reason. We NEED to defend ourselves in this world. I would seriously rethink the entire "defenses" issue.
This aside, the book is excellent (if rather rambling and repetitious) and a very worthwhile read. I have become convinced by this and other long-term studies that such lifelong prospective studies are the very best way of finding out about people--not the only way, but the best way. We need more and more of them, with secure funding.
Read less
30 people found this helpful
Helpful Comment Report abuse
Robert W. Morse II
3.0 out of 5 starsNo Earth Shattering RevelationsFebruary 17, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Well...I read it cover to cover. No earth shattering revelations here. There's more history about the study itself and not nearly enough development and application of its results. Don't get me wrong, there are some tidbits to pick up on, but it's not as accessible to the lay person. At the end, you come away realizing how great an accomplishment this 70 year longitudinal study is, but that's about it.
8 people found this helpful
