What an 85-Year-Long Harvard Study Says Is the Real Key to Happiness

"We've long used the French word milieu in Eng­lish, but not with quite the same range of mean­ings it has back in France. For exam­ple, French soci­ety (and espe­cial­ly the mem­bers of its old­er gen­er­a­tions) explic­it­ly rec­og­nizes the val­ue of a milieu in the sense of the col­lect­ed friends, acquain­tances, and rela­tions with whom one has reg­u­lar and fre­quent con­tact. Keep­ing a good milieu is a key task for liv­ing a good life."

"As the fourth direc­tor of the long-term Har­vard Study of Adult Devel­op­ment, which has been keep­ing an eye on the well-being of its sub­jects for more than 85 years now, Waldinger knows some­thing about hap­pi­ness. Ear­ly in the video, he cites find­ings that half of it is "a kind of bio­log­i­cal set point," 10 per­cent is "based on our cur­rent life cir­cum­stances," and the remain­ing 40 per­cent is under our con­trol."

"The sin­gle most impor­tant fac­tor in the vari­abil­i­ty of our hap­pi­ness, he explains, is our rela­tion­ships. To take the mea­sure of that aspect of our own lives, we should ask our­selves these ques­tions: "Do I have enough con­nec­tion in my life?" "Do I have rela­tion­ships that are warm and sup­port­ive?" "What am I get­ting from rela­tion­ships?""

The French concept of milieu emphasizes the value of a cultivated network of regular friends, acquaintances, and relations as essential to a good life. Longitudinal research from the Harvard Study of Adult Development spanning over 85 years identifies determinants of happiness: roughly 50% is a biological set point, 10% stems from current life circumstances, and 40% is under individual control. The single most important variable in happiness variability is the quality of relationships. Regular connection, warm supportive relationships, and reflection on what one receives from relationships are central to sustaining well-being.

Read at Open Culture