Read Triumphs of Experience: The Men of the Harvard Grant Study Online
Authors: George E. Vaillant
Triumphs of Experience: The Men of the Harvard Grant Study (51 page)
II.
Scale for Objective Mental Health from Age 50–65
| 1. Career (3 questionnaires) | 1 = Working full-time 2 = Significant reduction of work load 3 = Retired |
| 2. Career success (3 questionnaires) | 1 = Current (or pre-retirement) responsibilities/success as great or greater than 1970 2 = Demotions or reduced effectiveness (prior to retirement) |
| 3. Career or retirement enjoyment (2 questionnaires) | 1 = Meaningful, enjoyable 2 = Ambiguous 3 = Working only because he must or feels retirement demeaning/boring |
| 4. Vacations (2 questionnaires) | 1 = 3+ weeks and fun 2 = Less than 3 weeks if working or un-playful retirement |
| 5. Psychiatrist use (2 questionnaires) | 1 = No visits 2 = 1–10 visits 3 = Psych hospitalization or 10+ visits |
| 6. Tranquilizer use (2 questionnaires) | 1 = None 2 = One use to a month 3 = More than once a month’s use |
| 7. Days’ sick leave (exclude irreversible illness) (2 questionnaires) | 1 = Less than 5 days/year 2 = 5+ days |
| 8. Marriage 1970–1984 (3 questionnaires) | 1 = Clearly happy 2 = So-so 3 = Clearly unhappy or divorced |
| 9. Games with others (3 questionnaires) | 1 = Regular social activities/sports 2 = Little or none |
| Total (low score is good) | 9–14 = Score compatible with being classified mentally healthy 15–23 = Bottom quartile; excludes individual from being classified as mentally healthy |
III.
Scale for Objective Mental Health from Age 65–80
| 1. Career or retirement enjoyment | 1 = Still enjoying part-time work and/or retirement 2 = Ambiguous or midrange 3 = Dissatisfied with retirement |
| 2. Retirement success, age 65–80 | 1 = Still enjoying part-time work and/or retirement 2 = Ambiguous or midrange 3 = Dissatisfied with retirement |
| 3. Contact with younger relatives, age 65–80 | 1 = Meaningful, enjoyable family interaction 2 = Ambiguous or infrequent interaction with young relatives 3 = Avoids or shunned by kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews |
| 4. Use of leisure time, age 65–80 | 1 = Varied, imaginative, and enjoyment of leisure time 2 = Some leisure activities with moderate enjoyment 3 = Bored, passive, unsatisfactory use of leisure time |
| 5. Games with others, age 65–80 | 1 = Many regular social activities: bridge, lunches, golf 2 = Some social activities, but limited involvement. 3 = Almost no social activities |
| 6. Psychiatric use, age 65–80 | 1 = No visits for counseling 2 = 1–10 visits 3 = Psychiatric hospitalization or 10+ visits |
| 7. Mood-altering drug use, age 65–80 | 1 = None 2 = 1–30 days use 3 = More than 1 month’s use in a year |
| 8. Marriage, age 65–80 | 1 = Clearly happy (until widowed) 2 = Never married, or so-so or fair if while married 3 = Clearly unhappily married, or divorced with no new intimate relationship |
| 9. Rater’s subjective impression, age 65–80 | Rater’s subjective impression after reviewing 6–7 questionnaires and other interview data in file 1 = Adjustment to aging is excellent 2 = Adjustment to aging is good or above average 3 = Ambiguous or average adjustment to aging 4 = Poor adjustment to aging 5 = Adjustment to aging worse than for most men |
DOMINANT COLLEGE PERSONALITY TRAITS
Dominant College Personality Traits (N =251)
| Trait * : (frequency), Definition | Important Correlates |
| Vital affect: (20%). Expressive, forceful, spontaneous energy, animated | |
| Sociable, friendly: (22%). Naturally friendly, socially at ease, makes friends easily | |
| Well integrated: (60%). Steady, stable, dependable, trustworthy, surmounts problems that confront him | Mature defenses—very significant Longevity—very significant Decathlon—very significant Eriksonian maturity—very significant Childhood strengths—significant No depression—significant Stable marriage—significant |
| Practical, organizing: (37%). Practical not theoretical, organized not analytical, likes getting things done | Conservative—very significant Decathlon—very significant Maturity of defense—very significant Eriksonian maturity—very significant No depression—very significant Stable marriage—significant |
| Humanistic: (16%). Interested in people, wish to work with people | |
| Pragmatic: (38%). Practical, conforming, accept the mores of the times | Conservative—very significant No depression—very significant Maturity of defenses—significant |
| Political: (17%). Interested in government, social reform, public policy rather than people | |
| Over-integrated, just so: (13%). Neat, meticulous, rigid, depend on routine, systematic | |
| Bland affect: (38%). Not warm or positive mood, not rich or vital affect | |
| Self-driving: (14%). Self-control, willpower, persevering, uneasy with leisure | |
| Cultural: (22%). Headed for artistic and lit- erary or at least cultural careers | Liberal—very significant |
| Verbalistic: (18%). Facile, lucid, well-formulated and rich in their use of language | |
| Inarticulate: (14%). Inability to express themselves | |
| Shy: (18%). Embarrassed, reserved, awkward socially but like people | |
| Physical science: (12%). Mechanical, inductive, like lab work and things more than people | |
| Sensitive affect: (17%). Shy, subtle, aesthetic, poor adjustment to everyday realities | Liberal—very significant |
| Creative and intuitive: (6%). Original, literary, and artistic, spurn concrete forms of thought | Liberal—very significant |
| Mood swings: (14%). Strongly marked and/or fluctuations in moods | |
| Inhibited: (19%). Overly moral, indecisive on acting on desires | |
| Ideational: (21%). Theoretical, analytical, dislike routine, scholarly, prefer literature over science | Liberal—very significant |
| Self-conscious, introspective: (25%). More concerned with subjective feelings than others | Liberal—very significant |
| Lack of purpose and values: (20%). Drifting, unenthusiastic | |
| Unstable autonomic functions: (14%). Undue anxiety, tremulousness, blushing, sweating, palpitations, functional urinary or GI symptoms | |
| Asocial: (10%). Other people unimportant, prefer things and their own company | |
| Incompletely integrated: (15%). Erratic, unreliable, undependable, little perseverance, poorly organized | Decathlon—very significant |
| Psychopathic: (7%). Confined to a small number of men who might be mentally ill |
*
The traits are arranged in the degree that they correlated with the Study’s ABC adjustment. The “soundest” boys most commonly manifested Vital affect and Sociability.
A. Books
1. Hooton EA:
Young Man, You Are Normal.
New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1945.
2. Heath CW, et al.:
What People Are.
Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1945.
3. Monks John P:
College Men at War.
Boston, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1957.
4. Vaillant GE:
Adaptation to Life.
Boston, MA, Little, Brown, 1977 [reprinted with a new preface in 1995 by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA].
5. Vaillant GE:
Natural History of Alcoholism.
Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1983.
6. Vaillant GE:
Ego Mechanisms of Defense: A Guide for Clinicians and Researchers.
Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press, 1992.
7. Vaillant GE:
The Wisdom of the Ego.
Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1993.
8. Vaillant GE:
Natural History of Alcoholism, Revisited.
Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1995.
9. Vaillant GE:
Aging Well.
Boston, Little, Brown, 2002 [also in Hebrew translation].
10. Vaillant GE:
Spiritual Evolution: A Scientific Defense of Faith.
New York, Doubleday Broadway, 2008.
11.
Vaillant GE:
Triumphs of Experience: The Men of the Harvard Grant Study.
Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 2012.
B. Papers
Clark Heath, Director
1. Johnson REL Brouha: Pulse rate, blood lactate and duration of effort in relation to ability to perform strenuous exercise.
Revue Canadienne de Biologie,
1942, 1, 2, 171–178.
2. Davis, Pauline: Effect on the electroencephalogram of changing the blood sugar level.
Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry,
1943, 49, 186–194.
3. Wells FL: A research focused upon the normal personality: A note.
Character and Personality,
1944, 122, 299–301.
4. Wells FL: Mental factors in adjustment to higher education.
Journal of Consulting Psychology,
1945, 9, 2, 67–86.
5. Savage, Beatrice M: Undergraduate ratings of courses in Harvard College.
Harvard Educational Review,
1945, 15, 3, 168–172.
6. Seltzer CC: The relationship between the masculine component and personality.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
New Series, 1945, 3, 33–47.
7. Bock AV: Selection of pre-medical students.
Bios,
1945, 16, 199–209.
8. Seltzer CC: Chest circumference changes as a result of severe physical training.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
New Series, 1946, 4, 3, 389–394.
9. Seltzer CC: Body disproportions and dominant personality traits.
Psychosomatic Medicine,
1946, 8, 2.
10. Heath Clark W, and Lewise W Gregory: Problems of normal
college
students and their families.
School and Society,
1946, 63, 1638, 355–358.
11. Heath, Clark W, and Lewise W Gregory: What it takes to be an officer.
Infantry Journal,
March 1946.
