I think that it is a shame that the women in this study lived in a society back then where they were not encouraged to be as ambitious as the men. It is a shame because they were in this category of being highly intelligent and were perceived to be highly successful in the future.
While reading this book, I had a speculation about this study. Could participating in this study potentially have influenced these children in their career paths? By being in this study, the participants all knew that they were above average, highly intelligent, and perceived by others to be successful when they grew up. Could this have potentially impacted them to aspire to be better or worse compared to if they had just not been in this study?
I say this because I feel that I have personally been impacted by my participation in the GATE program. When I was in elementary school, my teacher had me take a test that determined whether I would be placed in the Gifted and Talented Education Program. When I was accepted, I was introduced to new things that I would not have had if I were not in the program. I was given higher level books to read, I participated in Robotics and art classes, I was placed in academic groups only with other GATE students, I attended special meetings just for students in GATE, and, ultimately, I was primed to believe that I was a good student because I was in this program.
I think that though this program didn’t lead me to believe I was smart, it definitely boosted my confidence by being a part of it. Therefore, it makes me curious about whether this was also the case for the Terman participants. Did they aim higher due to being in this group? Did they potentially aim lower due to being in this group? Did being in this group affect their beliefs about themselves?
You point out that women in this study lived in a society that had different norms. It would/will be interesting to see how women from today’s society would fare. As this chapter talked about, satisfaction in one’s job was important (as well as the work relationships). Women have a lot more opportunities these days and can be in positions where they have more control of their work life. Based on what this book has indicated, that should lead to even longer life (women already outlive men). But it is possible that the stress of working and in many cases also being a parent, leads to less satisfactory relationships with others because of lack of time. The stress of being pressed for time along with not having time for the close relationships that this study has indicated is important, might actually lead to shorter longevity for women.