Howard Friedman - The Longevity Project

Vietnam War

Violent death

accidents

homicide

suicide

Viruses

Vitamins

Von Ribbentrop, Joachim

Wellness

Widowhood

Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES)

Women’s Army Corps (WAC)

Women’s Health Initiative

Wordsworth, William

Work satisfaction ( see Careers)

World War II,

Worrying

X-rays

Yale University

Yellow bile

Zoloft

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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published by Hudson Street Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First Printing, March 2011

Copyright © Howard S. Friedman and Leslie R. Martin, 2011

All rights reserved

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Friedman, Howard S.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN: 978-1-101-51337-8

1. Longevity. I. Martin, Leslie R. II. Title.

RA776.75.F75 2010

613.2—dc22

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Lucille Ball’s secret to staying young is quoted in A. Adams, An Uncommon Scold (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989), 17. Regarding the matter of eating fast (among the Terman participants), relevant information was recorded during a comprehensive medical exam the children underwent in 1922 in either San Francisco or Los Angeles. About half the boys and more than a third of the girls were classified as fast eaters. When we analyzed the longevity data eighty-five years later, we found absolutely no indication that eating slowly promotes longevity.

The New York Times obituary of Shelley Smith Mydans was published on March 9, 2002.

In this book, we report our major findings in terms of group associations, common trajectories, and pathways to long life. When we present descriptions of Terman participants who have been publicly identified (such as Jess Oppenheimer and Shelley Smith Mydans), the information is factual and unaltered. When we use confidential case studies to illustrate key points, we use pseudonyms and alter some of the details in unimportant ways, so as not to breach the confidentiality that Terman promised the children and their parents. Dr. Terman used the same sorts of disguise when he presented anecdotes to illustrate his findings.

For a textbook on modern approaches to personality, see H. S. Friedman and M. W. Schustack, Personality: Classic Theories and Modern Research , 4th edition (Boston: Pearson Allyn and Bacon, 2009).

The self-assessments in this book are provided to help the reader gain a deeper understanding of the concepts under discussion. They are not intended or suitable for clinical or therapeutic use. Scoring is approximate.

The quote “Any fool can criticize…” comes from Dale Carnegie’s 1936 book How to Win Friends and Influence People. It is often erroneously attributed to Benjamin Franklin.

For the details of our scale validation using modern measures, see for example L. R. Martin and H. S. Friedman, “Comparing Personality Scales across Time: An Illustrative Study of Validity and Consistency in LifeSpan Archival Data,” Journal of Personality 68 (2000): 85-110.

For our study of conscientiousness in childhood and adulthood, see L. R. Martin, H. S. Friedman, and J. E. Schwartz, “Personality and Mortality Risk across the Lifespan: The Importance of Conscientiousness as a Biopsychosocial Attribute,” Health Psychology 26 (2007): 428-36.

For information on Yisroel Lipkin (Rav Yisroel Salanter), see D. Katz, The Musar Movement: Its History, Leading Personalities and Doctrines (Tel Aviv: Orly Press, 1975); or I. Salanter, I. Blaser, Z. Miller, and E. Linas, Ohr Yisrael: The Classic Writings of Rav Yisrael Salanter and His Disciple Rav Yitzchak Blazer (Southfield, MI: Targum, 2004).

For our scientific review of conscientiousness and long life, see M. L. Kern and H. S. Friedman, “Do Conscientious Individuals Live Longer? A Quantitative Review,” Health Psychology 27 (2008): 505-12.

For our study with epidemiologist Renee Goodwin, see R. G. Goodwin and H. S. Friedman, “Health Status and the Five Factor Personality Traits in a Nationally Representative Sample,” Journal of Health Psychology 11 (2006): 643-54.

Details of our study on the longevity of scientists vs. nonscientists can be found in H. S. Friedman, J. S. Tucker, L. R. Martin, C. Tomlinson-Keasey, J. E. Schwartz, D. L. Wingard, and M. H. Criqui, “Do Non-scientists Really Live Longer?” The Lancet 343 (1994): 296.

We described our findings on personality and health behaviors in J. S. Tucker, H. S. Friedman, C. Tomlinson-Keasey, J. E. Schwartz, D. L. Wingard, M. H. Criqui, and L. R. Martin, “Childhood Psychosocial Predictors of Adulthood Smoking, Alcohol Consumption, and Physical Activity,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 25 (1995): 1884-99.