How a study that began in Harvard University in 1938 is proving that it is our relationships that help us to live longer and be happier.
In 1938, during the Great Depression, scientists at Harvard, one of the US’s most prestigious universities, began to track the health of 268 of its students. Their hope was to uncover the keys to leading a healthy and happy life. At that time, the college was single sex and so therefore was the study.
Over the years the children of these men (also all male) have also been recruited to the study. 19 of the original cohort were still alive in 2017 together with 1300 of their children, now in their 50s and 60s, and it is of the world’s longest studies of happiness and health. Control groups were recruited in the 70s from outside these groups. The children also gave the scientists the opportunity to discover how experiences in early life affect health and ageing. Some of those studied became successful in business or medicine or the law. Some became schizophrenic or alcoholic. However there was no inevitability about this.
So what have been the findings?
Most therapists would not be surprised at one of the key findings: Our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships have a powerful influence on our health. According to Robert Waldinger a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital, a director of the study and professor of psychiatry “Taking care of your body is important, but tending to your relationships is a form of self-care too”.
Strong relationships protect you from life’s tribulations, keep you happy, delay mental and physical decline and predict long and happy lives better than social class, IQ or genes. This is a finding that holds true not just for Harvard families but for inner-city participants too.
Happiness (and health) it seems, contrary to the impression given by society in general, is not a result of the pursuit of wealth or other goals, but the result of building and maintaining strong relationships. Let’s spread this news!
Over nearly 80 years, Harvard study has been showing how to live a healthy and happy life