For over 80 years, Harvard’s Grant and Glueck study has tracked the well-being of two demographics, and reached a startling conclusion.
The study comprised 268 Harvard graduates from the batches of 1939–1944 and 456 poor men growing up in Boston since 1939. Since pre-World War II, they’ve painstakingly analysed blood samples, taken brain scans, collated surveys, and interacted with these men.
As the study has lasted for eight decades, it has required the dedication of multiple generations of researchers. The diverse life paths of these 700 or so men led to a perhaps surprisingly common and solid conclusion.
To quote psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development: “The clearest message that we get from this 80-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period.” So, it isn’t the money in your bank account, the Ferrari in your drive or reaching the top of the corporate ladder that matters.
It is, however, the quality of such good relationships that matter. They found an overarching need for someone you could rely on and relate to - this eases pain, relaxes your nervous system, and slows the aging of your brain.
But this doesn’t mean you need a ton of friends or a serious romantic relationship. As Waldinger says, “It’s the quality of your close relationships that matters. Not the quantity.”