The Longevity Project
surprising discoveries for health and long life from the landmark eight-decade study
Howard S. Friedman, PhD and Leslie R. Martin, PhD
‘A shrewd and sincere book.’
Toowoomba Chronicle
We have been told that the key to longevity involves obsessing over what we eat, how much we stress, and how fast we run. Based on the most extensive study of longevity ever conducted, The Longevity Project exposes what really has an impact on our lifespan — including friends, family, personality, and work.
By gathering new information and studying participants across eight decades, Dr Howard Friedman and Dr Leslie Martin bust myths about achieving health and long life. For example, people do not die from working long hours — many who worked the hardest lived the longest. Getting and staying married is not the ticket for living to 100, especially for women. And it’s not the happy-go-lucky who thrive — it’s the persistent and responsible who flourish through the years.
With questionnaires that help you to determine where you are heading on the longevity spectrum and advice about how to stay healthy, this book changes the conversation about living a long, healthy life.
Reviews
‘The Longevity Project uses one of the most famous studies in psychology to answer the question of who lives longest — and why. The answers will surprise you. This is an important — and deeply fascinating — book.’
Malcolm Gladwell
‘From this report of the results of a one-of-a-kind study of human development from birth to death over the course of nearly 100 years (from 1910 to the present) we learn that much of what we “knew” to predict longevity was wrong. The content of this book will prove fascinating, not only to social, behavioral, and clinical scientists and practitioners and their students, but to the general reading public as well. The writing is crystal clear as it compels us to go on reading because we know that there will be an illuminating vignette as an example, or another fascinating finding, just around the corner, on the next page.’
Robert Rosenthal, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of California, Riverside and Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, Harvard University
» All reviews for this title‘Want to live longer? You’ve probably heard the common advice (don’t work so hard, think positive thoughts, eat your broccoli, etc.) As the fascinating analysis in The Longevity Project shows, much of this advice is wrong. Based on one of the longest-running longitudinal studies ever conducted, The Longevity Project describes, in its lively and accessible pages, the personality traits most common to those who lived long lives — and how to shape them in yourself. It’s a great read for anyone interested in the burgeoning research on psychology and health.’
Jean M. Twenge, author of Generation Me
