Harvard Discovers The Secret to (Educated, Male) Happiness

Apparently, Oprah is right: "Happiness is love." Or so says George E. Vaillant '55, director of the Harvard-based Grant Study, which has followed 268 Harvard men over 75 years in one of the longest longitudinal studies of its kind.

Started in 1938 as an "attempt to analyze the forces that have produced normal young men," the study has been specializing in what some may call TMI for decades. From date of toilet training to length of scrotum (we're serious), researchers have tracked almost every conceivable detail of these guys for decades, all in an attempt to uncover the origins of happiness (or at least normalcy).

While a Crimson article from 1942 reveals some of the study's vaguely creepy overtones (the original goal was apparently "to draw up a formula which will easily and correctly guide a man to his proper place in the world's society"), its recent conclusions, catalogued in Vaillant's book Triumphs of Experience, are actually pretty uplifting. Some zingers, as revealed in the Atlantic: apparently, IQ becomes unimportant above a certain level, older male liberals have more sex than their conservative counterparts, and those reporting the most satisfaction in relationships made an average of $141,000 more a year.

So does this study hold key to happiness for everyone? Maybe—if everyone is a "normal" male with a Harvard degree.