Howard Friedman - The Longevity Project

But what predicted their degree of work satisfaction? Those, like John, who had earlier (in 1940) felt that they had chosen their occupation (rather than drifted into it) were much more satisfied. Further, those who had always been more ambitious and liked the challenges of work were more satisfied as they approached their retirement years.

Melita Mary Hogg Oden was born in 1898 in Saratoga, California, and attended college twenty miles up the road at Stanford University. Fortunately for Melita, Stanford, which was a new school in fast-growing California, happened to be one of the few private colleges to admit both men and women. She studied psychology and graduated in 1921, just as Lewis Terman was launching his major project. Melita was recruited to assist, and she spent the next four decades at Terman’s side. 70 70 To read more about Melita Oden’s life, see “Melita Oden, 95, Researcher, Caretaker of Saratoga’s History” in the San Jose Mercury News (CA), April 21, 1993.

In Dr. Terman’s first published works, Melita is not mentioned, although by his 1930 book The Promise of Youth , she is credited as an assistant. But by the time of the major 1947 book The Gifted Child Grows Up: Twenty-five Years’ Follow-up of a Superior Group , Melita Oden is the coauthor. Still, even in this volume, Terman writes in the preface, “Mrs. Oden has served continuously as my research associate in the follow-up study of the group since 1936,” 71 71 Terman’s preface thanking Mrs. Oden is in Terman and Oden, Genetic Studies of Genius , vol. 4, The Gifted Child Grows Up , xi. and goes on to thank her for checking “the typed characters against manuscript copy” and for reading the printer’s proof.

Some hint of the major—and understated—contributions of Melita Oden to the Terman project comes from her activities after Lewis Terman died, when she returned to Saratoga. There she helped found the Saratoga Historical Foundation and became its historian, a position she held for many years. She kept extensive and meticulous records about Saratoga until her death in 1993. Widowed in 1959, she thrived for decades and was named Saratoga “Citizen of the Year” for 1976. In today’s world, of course, Melita Oden would have become a professor herself, not merely Terman’s essential and eternal research assistant.

Melita was not a Terman subject, but her life history parallels those of a lot of the female Terman participants. Many were highly successful, but within the limits that society imposed on them. Because their career titles were often misleading or meaningless, we could not formally examine the careers and longevity of the women. But our sense is that the results would have been analogous to those of the men. Melita Oden—bright, hardworking, well educated, very meticulous, and highly accomplished—lived in good health until she died at age ninety-five.

Shelley Smith Mydans is an outstanding example of how career success and longevity go together. Shelley, the Life magazine reporter we met at the beginning of the book, was captured by the Japanese in Manila while covering World War II. Her career in journalism was always challenging but very successful. Assigned first to Europe in 1939 and then to cover the Sino-Japanese War and then to Manila, she spent two years in captivity until her release in a prisoner exchange. One of Shelley’s duties while in prison camp was to pick the weevils out of the cereal. 72 72 The report of picking the weevils is in Time magazine, December 31, 1945.

She later returned to overseas correspondence, working in radio news and reporting for Time . In her spare time, she wrote (and published) novels. Shelley Smith Mydans had a very challenging but highly successful career, as well as a successful marriage and children. It is said that she faced more stressful adventures than a soldier of fortune. Yet she lived a long, healthy life, dying in 2002 at age eighty-six.

SELF-ASSESSMENT: JOB PASSION AND ACCOMPLISHMENT

For each of the statements in the left-hand column, circle the description on the right that most accurately reflects your feeling.

1. When I work, my productivity is high.

1 – This is occasionally true of me

2 – This is sometimes true of me

3 – This is often true of me

4 – This is almost always true of me

2. I feel that my work is meaningful.

1 – Almost always

2 – Often

3 – Sometimes

4 – Occasionally

3. An important goal of my life is to reach the point where I can stop working and relax for a change.

1 – It is a minor goal

2 – It is a moderately important goal

3 – It is a very important goal

4 – It is the most important goal

4. My career success depends on my efforts, not on luck.

1 – I feel this way once in a while

2 – I feel this way about half the time

3 – I often feel this way

4 – I almost always feel this way

5. There is a lot I still want to accomplish in my career.

1 – Absolutely; I still have many career-related goals

2 – There are some things I still want to do

3 – There are only a few things I still want to do

4 – I’ve accomplished enough in my career and now I can relax

6. In the past decade, I have received special honors or awards. 1 – Yes, I often receive such recognition

2 – Yes, my efforts and contributions are sometimes specially recognized

3 – No, I am usually not that willing or able to be singled out for achievement

4 – No, I am never singled out for special accomplishments

7. In whatever I do, I aspire to excellence much more than do my colleagues. 1 – Not really

2 – Sometimes

3 – Most of the time

4 – Definitely

8. Promotions are at the whim of my boss and not really under my control. 1 – Definitely true

2 – Probably true

3 – Maybe true

4 – Not at all true

9. I am passionate about the job that I do. 1 – Not really

2 – Partly

3 – Mostly

4 – Without a doubt

To score this scale, first reverse the numerical value for statements 2, 3, 5, and 6. So, on number 2, if you said “almost always,” a 1, change it to a 4. Similarly, for these four questions change 2s to 3s, change 3s to 2s, and change 4s to 1s. Once you have done that, simply sum the values. Your score should fall somewhere between 9 and 36, with higher numbers reflecting a greater sense of passion, accomplishment, and control in one’s occupation. About 25 percent of people are expected to score above 25, while the lowest 25 percent will score around 16 and below. High scorers, despite sometimes feeling overwhelmed by the demands of their job, sense the rewards of their work and may see additional payoff in terms of longer lives.

We regularly chat with college students and young professionals who are searching for their ideal career paths. They are looking for a “match” between their own characteristics and the demands of their eventual careers, believing that if they fail to choose the right occupation they will be unhappy and unhealthy.

We have developed a concept that applies to this situation—the notion of a “self-healing personality.” This is the idea that a good match between an individual’s personality and the demands of one’s environment is a path to mental and physical health. For example, there is no sense in forcing an athletic student who loves roughhousing, an intelligent student who loves reading books, and an extroverted student who loves leadership all to pursue the same after-school activities. It would be better for them to choose according to their abilities and interests. We predicted that Terman men whose personalities fit well with their jobs would live longer. It made great intuitive sense to us, but was it true? It turned out to be more complicated.