The Terman women were physically and intellectually precocious as children. But their high intelligence—they had a mean IQ of 151—did not handicap them psychologically. On the contrary, their mental health was demonstrably better than their classmates’.
After following them until they were 75, Terman and his co-workers observed that the women showed significantly more humor, common sense, perseverance, leadership, and even popularity than their classmates. They were as likely as their classmates to marry, but their physical health was better. At age eighty, the mortality of the Terman women, like the College men’s, has been only half the expected rate for white American women in their birth cohort. As in the Harvard sample, more than half of the Terman women have survived past eighty.
The career situation for these highly intelligent women was full of paradox, however. They grew up with mothers who did not yet have the right to vote. College tuition in California at the time was cheap enough ($25 to $50 a term at both Stanford and Berkeley) that a college degree was a realistic expectation for a bright woman. And the Depression, which began when they were twenty, and World War II, which began when they were thirty, put pressures on these women to enter the work force. But the jobs on offer were limited in scope, compensation, and opportunity. When asked what occupational opportunities World War II had opened for her, one Berkeley-educated woman replied dryly, “I finally learned to type.”
Almost half of the Terman women held full-time jobs for most of their lives. Most had gone to college and many to graduate school. Nevertheless, their mean maximum annual income ($30,000 in 1989 dollars) was identical to that of the Inner City men, who had a mean IQ of 95 and an average of ten to eleven years of education. Wartime demands for Rosie the Riveter and her like might have been an economic boon for high school dropouts, but they were an economic millstone for the gifted Terman women.
For the Terman men, it is worth noting, the war really did create great opportunities. The G.I. Bill paid for their graduate schooling and allowed some of them to create the Los Alamos and Livermore laboratories and, ultimately, Silicon Valley. Some of the Terman men gave their brilliance to the Los Angeles entertainment industry. Lewis Terman’s own gifted children, a boy and a girl, were both included in his study. Both graduated from Stanford and worked for the university for much of their lives. The son served as provost, and was mentor to many of the founders of Silicon Valley; the daughter was a secretary in one of the dormitories.
Thus, of our three samples, it was the college-educated middle-class Terman women, most of whose relatives had been in the United States for generations, who most clearly illustrated the negative effect of social bigotry upon development.
APPENDIX C
ASSESSMENT OF CHILDHOOD SCALES
1. Child Temperament Scale (Age 0–10)
1 = very shy, tics, phobias, bedwetting beyond age 8, dissocial, severe feeding problems, other noted problems.
3 = average.
5 = good-natured, normally social, an “easy child.”
2. Childhood Environmental Strengths Scale (Age 5–18)
1. Global Impression (rater’s overall hunch)
1 = a negative, non-nurturing environment.
3 = neither negative nor positive feeling about subject’s childhood.
5 = a positive, intact childhood; good relationships with parents, siblings, and others; environment seems conducive to developing self-esteem. A childhood that rater would have wanted.
2. Relationship with Siblings
1 = severe rivalry, destructive relationship, sibling undermines child’s self-esteem or no siblings.
3 = no good information, not mentioned as good though not particularly bad.
5 = close to at least one sibling.
3. Home Atmosphere
1 = any noncongenial home, lack of family cohesiveness, parents not together, early maternal separation, known to many social agencies, many moves, financial hardship that impinged greatly on family life.
3 = average home: doesn’t stand out as good or bad; or lack of information.
5 = warm, cohesive atmosphere, parents together, doing things as a family, sharing atmosphere, maternal and paternal presence, few moves, financial stability or special harmony in spite of difficulties.
4. Mother/Child Relationship
1 = distant, hostile, blaming others (such as father, teachers) for wrong methods of upbringing, overly punitive, overprotective, expecting too much, mother absent, seductive, not encouraging feeling of self-worth in child.
3 = mostly for lack of information or lack of distinct impression about mother.
5 = nurturing, encouraging of autonomy, helping boy develop self-esteem, warmth.
5. Father/Child Relationship
1 = distant, hostile, overly punitive, expectations unrealistic or not what son wants for himself, paternal absence, negative or destructive relationship.
3 = lack of information, no distinct impression about father.
5 = warmth, encouraging of autonomy in child, helping to develop self-esteem, do things with son, discusses problems, interested in child.
APPENDIX D
ADULT ADJUSTMENT SCALES
I. Scale for Objective Mental Health from Age 30–50
1. Income over $20,000 in 1967 dollars 1 = Above $20,000
2 = Below
2. Steady promotion, 1967 Examination of questionnaires at 5-year intervals from 1946–1967 reveals steady promotion or career progress
1 = Yes
2 = No steady promotion
3. Games, 1967 Examination of 1951–1967 questionnaires and review of other data reveals games with non-family members (golf, bridge, tennis, etc.)
1 = Yes
2 = No games with others
4. Vacation, 1967 Evidence from the 1957, 1964, and 1967 questionnaires that the subject took more than two weeks’ vacation a year and had fun rather than just dutiful visits to relatives
1 = Yes, takes them
2 = No, ignores vacation
5. Enjoyment of job Evidence from 1946, 1951, 1954, 1960, 1964, and 1967 questionnaires that the subject enjoyed his job and was enthusiastic about it.
1 = Unambiguous enjoyment
2 = Enjoyment not clear
3 = Definite lack of job enjoyment
6. Psychiatric visits, 1967 Visits from college through 1967
1 = Under 10 visits
2 = 10 or more visits
7. Drug/alcohol use, 1967 Evidence either that (a) the subject used sleeping pills weekly for a year or tranquilizers and amphetamines daily for a month, or (b) for a period at least as long as a year (or for two points in time) the individual drank more than 8 ounces of alcohol a day or felt he had trouble with control or he, his family, and his friends thought he drank too much
1 = No to (a) and (b)
2 = Yes to (a) and/or (b)
8. Days’ sick leave 1967 Based on questionnaires in 1944, 1946, and 1967
1 = Less than 5 days
2 = 5 or more days
9. Marital enjoyment, 1967 Averaging the husband’s reports of his marriage in 1954 and 1967 with the wife’s report of their marriage in 1967
1 = Good (marriage score of 4 or 5)
2 = Intermediate (marriage score of 6 or 7)
3 = Getting or considering a divorce (marriage score of 8+)
II. Scale for Objective Mental Health from Age 50–65
1. Career
(3 questionnaires) 1 = Working full-time
2 = Significant reduction of work load
3 = Retired
2. Career success
(3 questionnaires) 1 = Current (or pre-retirement) responsibilities/success as great or greater than 1970
2 = Demotions or reduced effectiveness (prior to retirement)
3. Career or retirement enjoyment
(2 questionnaires) 1 = Meaningful, enjoyable
2 = Ambiguous
3 = Working only because he must or feels retirement demeaning/boring
4. Vacations
(2 questionnaires) 1 = 3+ weeks and fun
2 = Less than 3 weeks if working or un-playful retirement
5. Psychiatrist use
(2 questionnaires) 1 = No visits
2 = 1–10 visits
3 = Psych hospitalization or 10+ visits
6. Tranquilizer use
(2 questionnaires) 1 = None
2 = One use to a month
3 = More than once a month’s use
7. Days’ sick leave (exclude irreversible illness)
(2 questionnaires) 1 = Less than 5 days/year
2 = 5+ days
8. Marriage 1970–1984
(3 questionnaires) 1 = Clearly happy
2 = So-so
3 = Clearly unhappy or divorced
9. Games with others
(3 questionnaires) 1 = Regular social activities/sports
2 = Little or none
Total (low score is good) 9–14 = Score compatible with being classified mentally healthy
15–23 = Bottom quartile; excludes individual from being classified as mentally healthy
III. Scale for Objective Mental Health from Age 65–80
1. Career or retirement enjoyment 1 = Still enjoying part-time work and/or retirement
2 = Ambiguous or midrange
3 = Dissatisfied with retirement
2. Retirement success, age 65–80 1 = Still enjoying part-time work and/or retirement
2 = Ambiguous or midrange
3 = Dissatisfied with retirement
3. Contact with younger relatives, age 65–80 1 = Meaningful, enjoyable family interaction
2 = Ambiguous or infrequent interaction with young relatives
3 = Avoids or shunned by kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews
4. Use of leisure time, age 65–80 1 = Varied, imaginative, and enjoyment of leisure time
2 = Some leisure activities with moderate enjoyment
3 = Bored, passive, unsatisfactory use of leisure time
5. Games with others, age 65–80 1 = Many regular social activities: bridge, lunches, golf
2 = Some social activities, but limited involvement.
3 = Almost no social activities
6. Psychiatric use, age 65–80 1 = No visits for counseling
2 = 1–10 visits
3 = Psychiatric hospitalization or 10+ visits
7. Mood-altering drug use, age 65–80 1 = None
2 = 1–30 days use
3 = More than 1 month’s use in a year
8. Marriage, age 65–80 1 = Clearly happy (until widowed)
2 = Never married, or so-so or fair if while married
3 = Clearly unhappily married, or divorced with no new intimate relationship
9. Rater’s subjective impression, age 65–80 Rater’s subjective impression after reviewing 6–7 questionnaires and other interview data in file
1 = Adjustment to aging is excellent
2 = Adjustment to aging is good or above average
3 = Ambiguous or average adjustment to aging
4 = Poor adjustment to aging
5 = Adjustment to aging worse than for most men
APPENDIX E
DOMINANT COLLEGE PERSONALITY TRAITS
Dominant College Personality Traits (N =251)
Trait*: (frequency), Definition Important Correlates
Vital affect: (20%). Expressive, forceful,
spontaneous energy, animated
Sociable, friendly: (22%). Naturally friendly, socially at ease, makes friends easily
Well integrated: (60%). Steady, stable, dependable, trustworthy, surmounts problems that confront him Mature defenses—very significant
Longevity—very significant
Decathlon—very significant
Eriksonian maturity—very significant
Childhood strengths—significant
No depression—significant
Stable marriage—significant
Practical, organizing: (37%). Practical not theoretical, organized not analytical, likes getting things done Conservative—very significant
Decathlon—very significant
Maturity of defense—very significant
Eriksonian maturity—very significant
No depression—very significant
Stable marriage—significant
Humanistic: (16%). Interested in people, wish to work with people
Pragmatic: (38%). Practical, conforming, accept the mores of the times Conservative—very significant
No depression—very significant
Maturity of defenses—significant
Political: (17%). Interested in government, social reform, public policy rather than people
Over-integrated, just so: (13%). Neat, meticulous, rigid, depend on routine, systematic
Bland affect: (38%). Not warm or positive mood, not rich or vital affect
Self-driving: (14%). Self-control, willpower,
persevering, uneasy with leisure
Cultural: (22%). Headed for artistic and lit-
erary or at least cultural careers Liberal—very significant
Verbalistic: (18%). Facile, lucid, well-formulated
and rich in their use of language
Inarticulate: (14%). Inability to express
themselves
Shy: (18%). Embarrassed, reserved, awkward
socially but like people
Physical science: (12%). Mechanical, inductive,
like lab work and things more than
people
Sensitive affect: (17%). Shy, subtle, aesthetic,
poor adjustment to everyday realities
Liberal—very significant
Creative and intuitive: (6%). Original, literary,
and artistic, spurn concrete forms of
thought Liberal—very significant
Mood swings: (14%). Strongly marked
and/or fluctuations in moods
Inhibited: (19%). Overly moral, indecisive
on acting on desires
Ideational: (21%). Theoretical, analytical,
dislike routine, scholarly, prefer literature
over science Liberal—very significant
Self-conscious, introspective: (25%). More
concerned with subjective feelings than
others Liberal—very significant
Lack of purpose and values: (20%). Drifting,
unenthusiastic
Unstable autonomic functions: (14%).
Undue anxiety, tremulousness, blushing,
sweating, palpitations, functional urinary
or GI symptoms
Asocial: (10%). Other people unimportant,
prefer things and their own company
Incompletely integrated: (15%). Erratic,
unreliable, undependable, little perseverance,
poorly organized Decathlon—very significant
Psychopathic: (7%). Confined to a small
number of men who might be mentally ill
* The traits are arranged in the degree that they correlated with the Study’s ABC adjustment. The “soundest” boys most commonly manifested Vital affect and Sociability.
APPENDIX F
STUDY BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Books
1. Hooton EA: Young Man, You Are Normal. New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1945.
2. Heath CW, et al.: What People Are. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1945.
3. Monks John P: College Men at War. Boston, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1957.
4. Vaillant GE: Adaptation to Life. Boston, MA, Little, Brown, 1977 [reprinted with a new preface in 1995 by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA].
5. Vaillant GE: Natural History of Alcoholism. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1983.
6. Vaillant GE: Ego Mechanisms of Defense: A Guide for Clinicians and Researchers. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press, 1992.
7. Vaillant GE: The Wisdom of the Ego. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Pre
ss, 1993.
8. Vaillant GE: Natural History of Alcoholism, Revisited. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1995.
9. Vaillant GE: Aging Well. Boston, Little, Brown, 2002 [also in Hebrew translation].
10. Vaillant GE: Spiritual Evolution: A Scientific Defense of Faith. New York, Doubleday Broadway, 2008.
11. Vaillant GE: Triumphs of Experience: The Men of the Harvard Grant Study. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 2012.
B. Papers
Clark Heath, Director
1. Johnson REL Brouha: Pulse rate, blood lactate and duration of effort in relation to ability to perform strenuous exercise. Revue Canadienne de Biologie, 1942, 1, 2, 171–178.
2. Davis, Pauline: Effect on the electroencephalogram of changing the blood sugar level. Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, 1943, 49, 186–194.
3. Wells FL: A research focused upon the normal personality: A note. Character and Personality, 1944, 122, 299–301.
4. Wells FL: Mental factors in adjustment to higher education. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1945, 9, 2, 67–86.
5. Savage, Beatrice M: Undergraduate ratings of courses in Harvard College. Harvard Educational Review, 1945, 15, 3, 168–172.
6. Seltzer CC: The relationship between the masculine component and personality. American Journal of Physical Anthropology New Series, 1945, 3, 33–47.
7. Bock AV: Selection of pre-medical students. Bios, 1945, 16, 199–209.
8. Seltzer CC: Chest circumference changes as a result of severe physical training. American Journal of Physical Anthropology New Series, 1946, 4, 3, 389–394.
9. Seltzer CC: Body disproportions and dominant personality traits. Psychosomatic Medicine, 1946, 8, 2.
10. Heath Clark W, and Lewise W Gregory: Problems of normal college students and their families. School and Society, 1946, 63, 1638, 355–358.
11. Heath, Clark W, and Lewise W Gregory: What it takes to be an officer. Infantry Journal, March 1946.
12. Wells FL and WL Woods: Outstanding traits: In a selected college group, with some reference to career interests and war records. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 1946, 33, 127–249.
13. Wells FL: Verbal facility: Positive and negative associations. The Journal of Psychology, 1947, 23, 3–14.
14. Wells FL: Verbal excess over quantitation: Two case studies. The Journal of Psychology, 1947, 14, 4.
15. Wells FL: Personal history, handwriting and specific behavior. The Journal of Psychology, 1946, 23, 65–82.
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