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The 75-Year Study That Found The Secrets To A Fulfilling Life

Discussion in 'LGBT Later in Life' started by squally89, Dec 27, 2013.

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  1. squally89

    squally89
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    Hi EC friends!

    So recently I read this article on Business Insider - The 75-Year Study That Found The Secrets To A Happy Life

    It basically states that:
    "And, in a conclusion that surely would have pleased Freud, the findings suggest that the warmth of your relationship with Mommy matters long into adulthood. Specifically:
    Men who had “warm” childhood relationships with their mothers earned an average of $87,000 more a year than men whose mothers were uncaring.
    Men who had poor childhood relationships with their mothers were much more likely to develop dementia when old.
    Late in their professional lives, the men’s boyhood relationships with their mothers—but not with their fathers—were associated with effectiveness at work.
    On the other hand, warm childhood relations with fathers correlated with lower rates of adult anxiety, greater enjoyment of vacations, and increased “life satisfaction” at age 75—whereas the warmth of childhood relationships with mothers had no significant bearing on life satisfaction at 75."

    What do you guys think of the findings?
     
    #1 squally89, Dec 27, 2013
  2. Chip

    Chip
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    This actually matches up with a lot of the research on early childhood attachment, particularly to mother, and it's correlation to addiction risk, happiness, healthy relationships, and risk of developing serious disease.

    Early childhood attachment, brain development, and the development of dopamine and endorphin pathways account for a lot of this, but there's also very solid research that looks at the early development of numbing behaviors which, in turn, make it difficult to form healthy emotional relationships and meaningful emotional connection. There's a citation I'm trying to dig up on a recent meta-analysis of a bunch of studies looking at this topic published in Pediatrics.

    Dr. Gabor Maté has been writing about early childhood and its relationship to illness and addiction for many years, citing research that's been around for ages... sound, well replicated studies with good methodology, published in respectable journals... but it's not a topic many people, even professionals, want to talk about because it makes it seem like there's little we can do.

    However, recent brain plasticity research indicates that, in fact, even though the pathways and numbing mechanisms are set early in life, there's some pretty good evidence that we can alter these pathways even after someone reaches adulthood. So the good news is that even when the chidhoods were not good, those people aren't condemned to live unhappy lives. They can alter their brain chemistry by taking conscious actions and steps to bring more fulfillment and happiness in their lives.

    Brené Brown's work indirectly focuses on much of this, and Dr. Maté's work also offers strategies for change.
     
    #2 Chip, Dec 27, 2013
  3. squally89

    squally89
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    Thank you Chip for your insightful answer!
    Essentially this is what I think of the research - Good relationship with your mother and father equals "Happy Life" - which I can understand because they're the first relationship you will develop in your life, therefore it impacts your life greatly. That said the study has a few flaws - it's a "only male" study, the specimen intake are 268 Harvard undergraduate men - It's Harvard. I don't know what Harvard was like back in the day, but I am pretty sure you have to be in a well economical and social status to be in Harvard. It completely ignores the social, economical and ethical complexity of other individuals. And does it mean an individual without a mother is doomed to be happy for the rest of his/her life?

    Personally I feel the research could be a disadvantage to LGBTQ folks in the sense that we usually encounter more conflicts within the family dynamic due to our sexual orientation (E.g. Father or mother disowning their child, family not wanting to discuss the concept of homosexuality in the household, Or family wants to convert him/her "back into a heterosexual" - These are just a few common examples of what happens when a young person comes out to their family who does not accept them).

    Does that mean we will not be as happy as those Harvard folks back in 1938? Our world today is so drastically different than theirs, so I don't necessary believe having that tradition relationship with your mother and father would someway guarantee or promote happiness within your life. I believe happiness is somewhat genetic, which goes back to Chip's contribution to childhood and brain development.
     
    #3 squally89, Dec 28, 2013
  4. Aldrick

    Aldrick
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    Honestly, I don't think the Grant Study is all that useful. It's interesting and might point to areas that should be more closely studied, but it doesn't actually tell us anything.

    Basically, the entire study here is based on wealthy white men who came from prominent families. They weren't even randomly selected, but instead specifically chosen based on what the originators of the research believed were "ideal specimens". In other words, the study was flawed from the very start.

    Sadly, there is a huge difference between causation and correlation. At the absolute best this study can only suggest a correlation between certain things from a very small subset of the general population.

    On the whole, it's interesting, but that's about it.
     
    #4 Aldrick, Dec 28, 2013
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