The Longevity Project Reflections

Chapter 10 discussed the role that success plays in longevity. The researchers discovered that health threats could be predicted by career accomplishments as well as lack of accomplishments. They concluded that those with the most successful careers were the least likely to die young. This makes sense to me but what if your job is extremely stressful? I feel like if your job is high stress and you don’t cope well with this stress, that you would probably not live as long. I was not surprised that those who coped with stress well remained healthy despite having demanding careers. I predicted that conscientiousness was one of the reasons why the successful participants were successful. This prediction was correct. In addition, ambition, perseverance, impulse control and high motivation also played a role in a successful work life. The chapter concluded by saying that those who retired but remained active in their community lived longer. This finding also makes sense and did not surprise me. After reading the chapter, I am interested in learning about CEO’s longevity. They have very high stress jobs but they have had very successful careers. How do CEO’s handle stress? Do CEO’s live longer than most?

Chapter 11 discussed the role religion places in longevity. I was surprised that religion itself doesn’t really play a role in how long you live. As someone who was raised with no religion, I have always felt that religious people are “better” because they believe in something greater than themselves. But at the same time it makes sense that having a religion doesn’t mean you will live longer. How can believing in something lead someone to living a longer life? People who are religious are also social and involved in the community. These are factors that lead to long life. I would like to know if people of a certain religion are more social or conscientious than people of another religion.

I found it interesting that finding the perfect job match doesn’t necessarily put one on the path toward long life. For me it seems like finding the perfect job would give you a greater chance at being successful because you would enjoy going to work everyday. It’s interesting to see that this is not the case, in fact most of the stress associated with jobs come from conflicts with other people rather than from the challenges of the job itself. Looking back on my work experience, I have found that I tend to like jobs more if the people there make work enjoyable. It would make sense that those with the most career success were the least likely to die young, but career success doesn’t just stem from occupational achievements, it also stems from the relationships and connections you make with your coworkers. In this particular chapter, I think that in regard to the work field the main component of whether someone is successful or not is dependent on healthy relationships with their coworkers.

It was also interesting to see that religiosity did not have much of an effect on men as it did on women. I wasn’t surprised that the least religious women were least likely to live a very long life. In my opinion, I feel like religion gives people a sense of purpose and motivation. I’m not saying that non-religious people don’t have a sense of purpose or motivation, I just think that religious people are more likely to help others and be more trusting of others. With this being said, I do agree with the book when it says the very religious women tended to be very friendly, but were also inclined to be worriers. I think that the survey they Terman participants took was a little subjective. The level of religiousness of a person is contingent on what they deem to be considered religious. For example, someone may think they are very religiously inclined, when in actuality they aren’t. It is hard to determine the extent to which someone is religious, therefore the results may have been skewed.

Dr. Nonterah warned us against using direct quotes from our sources in a literature review, but since this is a blog post, I’m going to do it. At the bottom of page 130, the author says, “Similarly, there is little or no evidence that people who are heavily involved in their jobs or work long hours are more prone to heart disease. It all depends on what kinds of stresses you face and how you deal with them.” Upon reading that, I had half a mind to stop reading, but I kept going. As it turns out, they did find a correlation between those with the most successful careers to have lived the longest. This was not so surprising given what we know about those higher in SES and their better health and the fact that (be it unfortunate or not) we typically measure success by money (though Terman did have some other variables). In chapter 11, they discussed religion and prayer and agreed that religion can be a good guideline/structure for one’s overall health and how he/she lives life. It is harder to measure “direct” benefits of religion since they work in the supernatural and one’s beliefs.

My relationship with God actually currently keeps me grounded and less stressed than I’d say the average college student, but that’s not to say all Christians (or insert other religion here) have it and keep it put together… I do not know yet what I wish to do in life, or perhaps what my ultimate calling in life is (I have an idea of it though), but to this point I have done fairly well at handling all of my responsibilities and keeping my stress relatively low. I have plans of “becoming successful” as most college students do even, despite not knowing exactly where God is taking me, but whether I make “as much money as I want” or not, I hope to make the most of it. To that point, my faith (as well as the structure and seemingly less amount of risky behaviors it helps me avoid) will allow me still to live longer, safer, and healthier.

After reading the chapter on job satisfaction and success, I think the information presented makes a lot of sense. Being unhappy in your job will definitely cause stress and in some cases, feelings of depression or inadequacy. All of these factors contribute to health risks and may cause health issues.

I found the section on matching between skills/passions and occupation actually quite surprising. I think that the initial thought for most, including myself, would be that if there’s dissonance between what you are predisposed to do as an occupation and what you end up doing, that is definitely going to cause some stress or lack of direction in your life. It was very refreshing to hear that the researchers actually didn’t find that sort of relationship. This leads me to think about how college and even high school students freak out so much over what school they’re going to go to or what they’re going to do with their lives. This chapter basically says that job aptitude tests are obsolete and that rather, it’s your personality that will determine how successful you are in the career that you end up pursuing.

I found the chapter on religion a little bit worrisome. The researchers came to the conclusion that for women, religion is a significant predictor of age. This gives me some grief because I’m actually atheist and don’t believe in any sort of religion. However, on that note, I do not find myself feeling as though I am lacking something greater than myself for guidance and support. I’m totally comfortable with my mindset and how I approach life. Therefore, it makes me nervous to think that I may end up dying young simply because of a life choice that I have made.

On the other hand, towards the end of the chapter the researchers start to discuss that maybe it’s not the religious aspect that is a predictor of longevity, but rather, the traits that seem to go hand in hand with being a religious person. This conclusion, to me, makes more sense. Typically, traits of religious people include: compassion, kindness, acceptance, and conservative behaviors. All of these, in some way, relate to the fostering of healthy interpersonal relationships and healthy individual behaviors, which are predictors of longevity. So as for this chapter, I think a better conclusion may have been to focus on the traits that religious people seem to share, rather than simply the fact that they are religious.

At the beginning of Chapter 10, I was surprised to find out that Edward Dmytryk lived such a long life, despite the seemingly endless hardships he encountered throughout his life. It was also nice to read that stress is not necessarily as negative as we perceive it to be, or as others seem to make it out for us. Although the authors explain why their findings on career choices are mostly based on the men who either “chose their life work” or not, I would have appreciated an example of a woman and how she reacted to her job either fulfilling what she hoped it would or not. The examples the authors provide about career successes, however, make up for this and one of the findings that stood out to me the most from this chapter was that pressure to succeed actually helps a person.

I feel as though we are constantly being told that although success is important, it is not as important as other aspects of life, such as health or family relationships and friendships. I do agree that these are all important, but in my opinion, success in life is equally as important. Personally, I think success affects all of these (our mental and physical health, as well as any relationships we may have with friends, and the way we help sustain our families at home). The story of Shelley Smith is astonishing and I am glad this book has mentioned her a few times because I have learned about her in several of my journalism classes as well. The fact that Smith died at 86, after being captured and facing constant challenges as a journalist, having a happy marriage and healthy children, certainly proves to me, and hopefully other readers, that leading a stressful life does not mean it will be a short, or unhappy one too. My parents always emphasize what Friedman and Martin emphasize in this chapter: aside from education, being motivated and able to surpass the challenges life throws at you is also essential to your health. This seems pretty self-explanatory to me, but I think it is important to reiterate, since so many people seem to focus on education being the key component to success in life.

After growing up in a Catholic household, attending church regularly and being a student at a Catholic high school, religion, afterlife and death have always been interconnected in my life. It is something I have been taught at home and in the school setting — so, I genuinely understand where these Terman participants in Chapter 11 are coming from. I think health based on religious beliefs varies though, depending on the household the person grows up in. For example, although it’s true that many religious people stay away from drugs and alcohol, there are also the children who are raised so strictly, based on their religions, that they steer toward alcohol and drugs as a form of rebellion. So, how could this affect longevity? I think it would be interesting to research into this phenomenon and decipher more of the negative ways in which religion can impact longevity — because I am sure there are several case studies that can be examined.

Chapter 10 examines whether there’s is a relationship between one’s career and longevity. In essence, those with the most job success (defined in multiple ways: money, status, or prestige) were usually the least likely to die young. The chapter talks about how those who were the most successful were usually conscientious. If those who weren’t conscientious and weren’t successful, they were more likely to die young. An interesting point they made in the text was that those who entered a role that they liked early on were more likely to live longer. This is interesting to me because as a senior who has already gone through my job search, I am excited to work on the opportunity that I have but know that will not be the work that I am going to do for the rest of my life, let alone even stay in the same company/industry. Something that the text kind of touched on was how we appraise our stressors. It seems that if we view our stressors as a motivating challenge, we will be ready to take it on and hopefully over time, we will live longer lives. How I appraise my future career has a huge impact on how my job satisfaction. I wish they could have made this more explicit in the text…maybe they couldn’t because this is all correlation?

Chapter 11 confirms that it isn’t exactly practicing religion and one’s faith in it that leads to longevity. Rather, it is the healthy habits and support system that are created and maintained over the life span.  For example, Donna’s religious inclinations declined as she age but she had healthy social ties and behaviors. It would be interesting to see the role conscientiousness plays in continuing practicing religion. Was Donna a conscientious person over her life? A critique that I have of the book is that it fails to acknowledge (or lack thereof) the relationship between sociability and conscientiousness. Just speculating, I think there is a tie between being disciplined and maintaining ties. This also should go hand and hand with longevity because maintaining relationships means that you can stay involved/maintain a social support system that can act as a buffer from different stressors.

In chapter 10, I found the section “mismatching” to be very relevant to my life right now, as a second semester senior. I am currently looking for the “ perfect match” between my personality and interests, and I do believe that if I do not find the right occupation then I may not be as happy as I hope to be. After reading this section, I do believe that it is important to choose a career that matches your personality. The type of occupation that best matches my personality and interests is social. I enjoy working closely with other people, especially children, while improving individual’s current situations. I completely believe in the finding that individuals who spend their lives working in an occupation that best fits their interests would face less stress and therefore would be healthier. We spend most of our lives going to work and therefore it is important to enjoy the work that you do.

It was reassuring to read that the findings revealed that when choosing a career, finding the “perfect match” does not necessarily put one on a path toward long life. I think often times individuals do not know if they have found that “perfect match.” Especially when you are just starting off, individuals may have to go through many positions/careers in order to find that “perfect match” and feel satisfied.

In chapter 10, I also thought it was interesting when productivity was studied in adults over the age of 70. I am not surprised that the individuals who were continually productive lived much longer than their more laid-back counterparts. I think it is important to continue to learn and be motivated throughout life. While reading this section, I thought of my own grandparents. Both my paternal grandma and grandpa volunteer, paint, and take classes at the age of 85. Until the age of 75, my grandpa was still seeing patients in his pediatric clinic. They are both very motivated and love to be productive. Although I did find it surprising that productivity was more important than social relationships or sense of happiness and well-being.

I found the last page of chapter 10 to be so frustrating! After reading the entire chapter, the author writes, “finding the perfect career to match your personality and preferences is not the way to guarantee success of long life. Many Terman subjects found themselves in less-than-ideal jobs and yet attained great success and satisfaction.” I do not know what to conclude from that chapter, other than it just varies from person to person and depends on an individual’s attitude and productivity.

While reading chapter 11, I kept in mind my own grandmother who is turning 90 years old in a month. My grandmother is the most religious woman I know and has been that way since losing her husband and son at a young age. For my grandmother, her faith is something that keeps her positive and connects her to the community. Most of my grandmother’s friends are from her church, and attending church for her is a social event as well as a place to feel hope and security.