Research Study

Harvard Article: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/

TLDR; Turns out the Beatles were right, love is all you need. Relationships are the greatest factor in well-being.

Study analyzes the lives of 456 men for over 80 years and found that close intimate relationships are the greatest predictor of happiness and success.

Each year the men filled out an exhaustive questionnaire that inquired about numerous aspects of their health, habits, family, political views, career, and marriage; and every 10-15 years, the men were interviewed face-to-face.

This research project, known as the Grant and Gluek Study, continues today, more than 80 years after its inception. Having been extended numerous times, it has become one of the longest longitudinal studies ever conducted. They track the well-being of two populations: 456 poor men growing up in Boston from 1939 to 2014 (the Grant Study), and 268 male graduates from Harvard's classes of 1939-1944 (the Glueck study).

Specifically, the study demonstrates that having someone to rely on helps your nervous system relax, helps your brain stay healthier for longer, and reduces both emotional as well as physical pain.

The conclusion? According to Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one thing surpasses all the rest in terms of importance:

"The clearest message that we get from this 75-year study is this: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period." Not wealth, status, or professional success. Relationships are the key factor.

Grant, one of the primary researchers, concluded: “that the only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people."

He also says: “It was the capacity for intimate relationships that predicted flourishing in all aspects of these men’s lives."

Relationships predicted success in other areas of life. For example:

The 58 men with the best scores for warm relationships made an average of $243,000 a year; in contrast, the 31 men with the worst scores for relationships earned an average maximum salary of $102,000 a year.