The Longevity Project Reflections

I was not surprised by most of the details of Chapter 8. It discussed how finding hobbies to stay active in more important than simply training for a marathon. This continues to play into the theme of the individualization in health and finding what works for each person. If you hate jogging but love playing tennis, throw away your running shoes and buy tennis ones.

Chapter 9 was more interesting to me because it discussed the question I’ve been waiting to read about: do married people really live longer? The answer that I took away was yes. If you get married, you live longer because you have someone there to care for you, get you to go to the doctor if you need it, remind you to take pills, and take away stress from your life. On the other hand, chances are you will not live as long if you go through a divorce. I found this really interesting in addition to the differences in gender. Apparently, men are more affected by divorce than women. One of the big takeaways I found from this chapter was the idea that personality plays a huge role in whether we get divorced or not. In some ways, I found this chapter to relate very nicely to Chapter 5 of Straub in which coping with stress is discussed. If people who are better at coping with stress and moving on from a divorce will live longer than those who never get remarried, possibly just sitting in loneliness.

Chapter 8 discusses the effects that exercise and activity levels may have on life expectancy. I found this chapter to be pretty inconsistent, though. It seemed like the authors were trying to avoid taking a firm stance–to avoid offending people–so their conclusions often contradicted themselves. They would say how crucial it was to live an active life, making statements about how active kids became active adults that lived longer. Then they would say the opposite, claiming that inactive children could live the same length, as long as they developed some activity later in life. In the end, they came up with a weak piece of advice: to be active through patterns that are consistent with your past history of activity. For those who are less inclined to active hobbies or exercise, this piece of advice isn’t especially helpful in my opinion. I think they could have done a lot more with this chapter if they had been more concise and confident in their main points, but instead I was left feeling like the authors waffled too much for the chapter to be useful.

Chapter 9 did a better job of examining differences (in marital status) and drawing concrete conclusions from them. They found that steadily married men lived the longest; steadily single men lived the next longest; divorced and remarried men lived the third longest; and divorced men lived the shortest out of all the groups. They explained the gap in longevity between married vs. single vs. remarried men as a result of the incredible stress caused by divorce. This would be exacerbated in the divorced-but-not-remarried group of men, who also lacked the support of a partner in the long term. In women, that effect wasn’t seen nearly to the same extent as it was in men. Women who divorced and stayed single didn’t show a significant decrease in life expectancy–and actually lived longer than the women who divorced and remarried–which goes to show that sometimes it’s healthier to be single if your partner makes you miserable. It was super annoying to me that the happiness of the man predicted life expectancy and life satisfaction for both partners, but the happiness of the woman in a marriage was basically irrelevant. I really hated that finding, and I’m determined that my health and happiness later in life is NOT going to be as influenced by a man’s happiness.

Finally, they found that personality traits and life paths had a lot to do with whether an individual was likely to get divorced: conscientious people tended to have steady marriages, while those who came from tumultuous [divorced] families tended towards divorce. This is reassuring for me, since I’m both conscientious and was raised by very happily married parents. The results in Chapter 9 were overall not surprising to me. It makes sense that having a healthy relationship with a partner who supports you (and holds you accountable) should extend life expectancy. Conversely, experiencing as disruptive a life event as divorce should definitely impact longevity.

Chapter 8 sought to determine whether physical activity was very important to health and longevity. The researchers found out that participants’ activity levels remained stable throughout their life. In addition, they discovered that popular children grew up to be more active adults compared to their less social counterparts. This finding does not surprise me because I find that people who are social care more about their physical appearance and overall health, so they exercise more. After the age of 60 however, social individuals’ activity levels decreased and they tended to match activity levels of less social adults. Ultimately, the researchers concluded that being active in middle age was the most important to living longer. They also stated that it does not matter if you are not as active as a child as long as you become more active as you age. But what if you develop some type of chronic condition as a result of your inactivity during your youth. Wouldn’t this mean that you are more likely to die sooner despite becoming more active at the age of 40?

Chapter 9 looked at the role of marriage in longevity. I was surprised to find out that married men live longer. This surprised me because in general, men have unhealthier habits than women and they tend to take greater risks. The researchers said that this finding was connected to conscientiousness. The men who remained married throughout their life were more conscientious than those who remarried or divorced. It did not surprise me that the husband’s happiness was key to being healthy later on. This is not surprising because I feel like a lot of women are dependent on their husbands financially and often emotionally. So if a woman’s husband is happy with his life and marriage, chances are she will be happy too. I predict that as women start to become the breadwinner in families and hold higher paying positions, that a wife’s happiness will become key to her longevity as well as her husband’s

I was particularly struck about the subsection of chapter 8 titled “Marathonlessness Is Not a Disease.” In this section, the authors discussed the ways that research can be exaggerated to overestimate illnesses. The section outlines the way that hypersensitivity to illness and disease can actually be harmful to one’s health. The fact is, there is just simply not enough definitive research to say what amount of exercise is the perfect amount for each individual. Research is too specific, particularly male specific, to be able to generalize studies over the entire population. That being said, I think that we live in a generation that takes workouts and diets from the internet without actually knowing the costs and benefits that they will have for each individual person. Today, people, myself included, seem to believe that exercising, no matter what this entails, will be automatically beneficial and make you a healthier person, even though this is not the case.

I was very critical of the results of chapter 9. Though marriage does play a large and significant role in the lives of may people, I do not think that the authors dove deeply enough into the issue. The vagueness of being “satisfied” in a marriage does not cover the types of complex issues that a marriage can bring about. The chapter did not discuss abusive relationships, the significance of children in the marriage, or the sickness of a spouse, all of which (and more) are incredibly important to the level of stress existing in a marriage. This level of stress seems to be repetitively indicative of longevity, so I think that they are categories worth investigating.

In chapter 8, I found it interesting that personality can be an indicator of whether someone is active or not. The book says that children who were more sociable and liked being in large groups generally grew up to be more active adults. This statement made a lot of sense to me because some people like to work out for the social aspect of meeting new people or having someone to talk to when exercising. The book also said that those who were more neurotic were less likely to be physically active as children and even more unlikely to remain physically active as adults. This statement also made a lot of sense to me because people who are very worrisome or anxious are typically scared to work out because they may get injured. Although personality is a huge factor of the likeliness of a person to exercise, I also believe that the likeliness of a person to exercise is based on internal drive. A person can have a neurotic personally, but they can be internally driven to work out based on a fear that they may inherit a preventable family illness such as diabetes. The Terman study fails to take into account other factors that differ from personality and the effect that it may have on a given hypothesis.

In Chapter 9, it wasn’t surprising that married people live longer lives. I was surprised that married men live longer and divorce is more harmful to a men’s health than women’s. This statement was surprising to me because I thought that divorce would be more harmful to women’s health because women tend to be more emotional than men. It was also interesting that prudent and responsible children were more likely to grow up to have a successful marriage. I found this statement slightly offensive because I feel like the book makes it seem like people who did not have these characteristics as a child will not have a successful marriages. Although this may not be the case, the book makes various claims that make it seem as though everyone who does not fit the characteristics the book lists will not live longer or be considered healthy. Another claim I found interesting was that happiness in couples is generally a sign of good health to come, but it is the man’s happiness that most especially predicts the couple’s later health. This statement is interesting because in my opinion both the man and woman’s happiness should predict the couple’s later health, instead of solely the man.

In chapters 8, the authors discuss how fitness effects health. Unsurprisingly, they found that physical fitness positively affects health by lowering many the likelihood of many chronic diseases. What was surprising, however, was that the individuals have different levels of exercise that is best for them. In other words, the amount of fitness that I need to do to stay fit can be different for a different individual. The authors also found that active children tend to be more active adults, which means these individuals tend to be healthier. However, it was found that adults that were not as active as kids but transitioned to active adults are just as healthy in adulthood as the adults that had always been active. Most people do not enjoy jogging for the fun of it, and the authors find that the net benefit of jogging for a day is very slim. The time spent jogging will cancel out with the years gained later. Chapter 9 discusses the myth that “married people live longer.” The authors found this to only be half accurate. Married men tend to live longer than divorced men, but there is not much of a difference seen in married women and divorced women. The authors found that a second marriage can almost completely negate the hardship of a divorce if the second marriage is successful. The myth that “happy wife equals happy life,” was debunked by the authors. Happier husband tended to equate to a more comfortable home, while a happier wife did not have much of an effect in this study.

The first chapter seemed like common sense to me. I have always been active, since the day I was born. I thought it only made sense that different individuals will require different levels of fitness, because of biological differences. It also seemed obvious that more reserved children can grow to be active adults, which would lead them to be just as healthy as adults that were active as children. I did not feel like I got much out of Chapter 8, as it all just seemed pretty obvious. I can not speak much on chapter 9 because I have not been married or divorced. The only thing I found surprising, was that a happier husband was found to be more predictive of a happier marriage. However, I wonder if that is only true because of the period, in which the study was conducted. Women have gained a lot and become the breadwinner in many of households today, so I wonder if the statement of  “happy wife, happy life” is more accurate today.

I plan to apply both chapters in my future. I am still very active and would like to remain pretty physically fit or at least reasonably busy, my entire life. While I do not see myself going on long jogs for the fun of it, I do see myself doing some form of cardio and working out to stay in shape. Maybe even joining some older individual sports leagues, if my body can withstand it. I would get a lot more out of those, than jogging for an hour a day. I also would like to only get married once, and never worry about divorce. Divorce would negatively affect my health more than it may affect a woman. While that’s only increased the incentive to stay married, I generally just want to be happy with the woman I decide to settle down with on the first try. Emphasis on first.

Chapter 8 explores the common conception that exercise leads to longer and healthier lives. While this is true, what makes the statement true is having consistency with exercising. Furthermore, there are other external factors, like having a healthy diet, that affects longevity. The net benefit of exercising might also be very minimal compared to the time and effort put into longer exercises if the individual is not a fan of the workouts. However, what is interesting to exercising for longer amounts of periods consistently is one’s discipline to maintaining that schedule. Those with higher conscientiousness were more likely to stick with it, especially if they enjoyed exercising. For me, I can relate this to the personal project we are doing in class. Since my project is to increase my aerobic activity, I have chosen an activity that I enjoy: running.  I feel more committed to accomplishing my weekly goals and feel great after my runs.

Chapter 9 examines marital status and longevity among 4 groups broken down by gender: steadily married, divorced (single), divorced (remarried), and single.  It was shown that males that were divorced were more likely to die at an earlier age, even the remarried ones. This might have bene due to stress from divorce. The single men outlived the remarried and divorced groups, but not the steadily married men, the longest living of them all. With females, the married showed living somewhat of a longer life. Being divorced didn’t have as much of an impact on them as it did for the males for mortality risk. Parental divorce, but more so personality, were indicators of marital success. The study also evaluated commonalities between similar interests and sexual satisfaction between the spouses. Through this, it was found that the husband’s happiness mattered more in determining the happiness of each individual.

While the results of these topics are interesting, I wonder if they still hold true today.  Mentioned on page 124, sometimes the results of these studies become outdated. For example, same sex marriage is legal in many countries in the world and the rates for these marriages are increasing. If the marriage is same sex, then how does a “lack of a husband or wife” affect the spouses’ happiness? Should the husband and wife roles be rewritten to based on the role characteristics? Or should we just discredit the study and say it does not pertain to today’s society anymore?

I found chapter 8 to be frustrating because I do not think the researchers came to a conclusion that helps me understand my own activity level. One of the main takeaways from this chapter is that it does not matter how much exercise you received as a child, it matters if your activity level increases as you age. I think this finding is interesting, because I find this hard to believe. I believe that as a child you develop the healthy habits that you will continue to follow throughout your life. I also think the researchers should have included how an individual’s environment, social relationships, and SES all impact an individual’s activity level. I know in my family, exercise and fitness is something that we value very highly, but in some families that is not the case.

I did not like the section of chapter 8 that discussed jogging. I believe that the authors failed to mention all of the health benefits associated with running, such as: healthier heart health, stronger immune system, relieving stress and decreasing your risk for depression. The authors instead focused on how jogging is a waste of time or not as healthy as some may believe. I completely disagree, I have spent years running and I know that I feel and look my best when I am in the habit of running. Not everyone enjoys running, but I think that even going for a 15-minute run is beneficial both physically and mentally.

I did learn something new in chapter 8, I was not aware that millions of people take an aspirin tablet daily, in order to prevent a heart attack. I did not know that aspirin was able to have that effect on some individuals. I think the authors needed to include more research to support this claim, because some readers may begin to take aspirin daily, after reading that statement.

In chapter 9, I thought it was interesting to learn about the various sex differences in divorced, married, remarried, and single instances. I think it is interesting that marriage is such a different experience for men versus women. I also thought it was interesting how this chapter reintroduced the personality trait of conscientiousness, and how consistently married individuals were more conscientious as children. I like how this finding related back to chapter 2 and the idea that conscientiousness leads to longevity.

I think it is fascinating that health and well-being later on in life is predicted by only looking at the husband’s happiness in a marriage. Prior to reading this section, I believed that it would be the happiness of both the wife and husband.

The chapter concerning physical activity really didn’t surprise me. We have always been told that physical activity is relevant to a healthy and long life, so the fact that the researchers uncovered the same result checks out. I think it was important to note that physical activity in childhood did not seem to make a difference in longevity so long as you were physically active in middle age.

I think another relevant point to the chapter is that working out and looking good also can help your mental state to be more stable and positive. I know in my experience, I never used to work out. I just picked it up again about a month ago and I definitely notice a difference in my disposition. I’m looking better and feeling more confident in myself. A positive outlook and higher self-esteem are definitely a component in longevity that can be caused by physical activity.

In terms of the chapter on marriage, I think the researchers’ findings make a lot of sense. If experiencing divorce as a child is found to be traumatic and decrease average life span, than experiencing it yourself is definitely detrimental. One of our basic human needs is love and acceptance. The best way to achieve that is by finding a significant other. Sharing life’s moments with someone else can bring you so much joy. Of course going through a divorce may be traumatic due to the pain and stress involved. Divorce agreements along the financial and custody repercussions can be really messy. The negative lasting emotions and experiences from that can definitely have an impact on longevity and your outlook on life. Lastly, the section on sexual satisfaction also makes a lot of sense. Sexual satisfaction is associated closely with satisfaction with marriage and thus would also contribute to longevity. A positive sex life can lead to a happier marriage, which in turn would lead to a happier life.

First of all, shout out to Ancel Keys for figuring it out even though people didn’t listen to him. “It” being a healthy lifestyle. Aside from learning briefly about how, the general main findings from chapter 8 were not so surprising; generally, those who were active children remained active into their mid-years, and then most participants’ activity declined into old age. With regards to chapter 9, I have heard the phrase “Married people live longer,” but when it was narrowed to more so married men, that surprised me. It had always been my understanding that women generally live longer than men…

Page 100 blatantly states that even if you were greatly active at a young age (even all the way through college and a little thereafter as my father was), that if you stop staying active (and your food intake increases, or stays the same minus the same amount of activity), that you will cut years off of your life. I feel I mention my parents a lot and that’s just because that’s where topics of health hit home the most for me. Like most others, I just hope my parents live as long as they want to.

One summer my family and I were vacationing and went on a hike up a popular hill/mountain (it wasn’t too terribly strenuous, but still a challenge). Amidst our hike, my brother and I came across an elder gentlemen who was in great shape—six pack, strong arms, and legs and all—but he certainly looked as if he was at least 60, and he was walking with what appeared to be two grandchildren. From that moment, I declared I would be a buff grandpa. My current trajectory would reasonably predict I am on track, so that’s good. Going throughout my life, I hope I am able to marry (once, and only once) and keep my wife happy and aid in us both living healthy, long lives.