I think what we have found is that the benefits of connection and the hazards of loneliness and

disconnection are so powerful that the reason why we're excited about is we feel like we really

want to bring this message to people. Hello and welcome to the psychology podcast. Today's

episode is sponsored by unlikely collaborators. Their mission is to untangle the stories that hold

us back as individuals, communities, nations, and humanity at large. Using the perception box lens,

they do this through storytelling, experiences, impact, investments, and scientific research.

Unlikely collaborators, the only way forward is inward. Today we welcome Robert Waldinger to the

podcast. Robert is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and zen priest. He is professor of psychiatry at

Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, where he directs the Harvard study of

adult development. His TEDx talk on the subject has received nearly 44 million views,

and is the ninth most watched TED talk of all time. He is the co-author of The Good Life,

with Dr. Mark Schultz. In this episode, I talked to Robert Waldinger about the secret to a happy

life. Robert shares with us the recent findings of the Grand Study, which is the longest scientific

study of happiness ever conducted. It's been ongoing for more than 80 years now, and has had

high-profile participants like US President John F. Kennedy. In this episode, Robert and I get

into the details of how they continue to conduct research and how to make sense of both the new

and old data. Sure enough, what the study has found consistent is the power of connection.

We also touch on the topics of psychodynamic therapy, defense mechanisms,

attachment, and psychological research and its methodologies. This is a really awesome chat,

with someone who has led this legendary study. We call this episode the secret to happiness,

but there's actually a bunch of secrets, and I don't want to spoil it for you. I want some of

the secrets to be a surprise for you, so without further ado, I bring you Dr. Robert Waldinger.

...