Customer Reviews

The Search for Fulfillment: Revolutionary New Research That Reveals the Secret to Long-term Happiness

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There are a number of problems with this book. First, the author's conclusions are based on a small sample of graduates from "a private university in the Northeast" (if the name was mentioned, I missed it). From this, she extrapolates her findings to all 76 million baby boomers. This approach seems wrong on two points: first, I am not a statistician but I can't see how she can take such a small number and draw such general conclusions about a population that large and diverse; second, her study is also flawed by the WEIRD bias, that is using mostly White European Industrial Rich Democratic subjects to draw conclusions about a larger pool of people. In addition to this bias, her analysis is based on Erik Erikson's theory of personal development and growth. His theory is interesting and makes sense, but is it ultimately correct? Psychological theories wax and wane over time, as Krauss herself demonstrates when discussing the myth of the mid-life crisis.

Another problem with Krauss' book is that she is basically making a lot of stuff up when it comes to the details of her subjects' lives. She seems required to do this to support her creation of five life "pathways": the Meandering Way; the Downward Slope; the Straight and Narrow Way; the Triumphant Trail; and the Authentic Road. As she describes how her subjects' lives fall into one of these categories, she fills in the blanks that are necessarily there because of the nature of her data collection tool, which is basically a bunch of question geared to determine where you are on Erikson's scale of personality theory. An example of this fabrication is when Krauss speculates why one of her subjects abruptly left a university where she was on a tenure track. She must have been denied tenure for not publishing; as a result, she will now never get another good academic job and must necessarily seek work for which she is overqualified, now that her name sports a PhD after it. Well, maybe that scenario is possible but maybe her subject had an affair with the janitor and preferred to go off with him to have passionate relations unencumbered by the burdens of academia. Who knows? Krauss does this speculation and filling in of blanks constantly; her text is littered with phrases like "I can only assume...", "It seems reasonable to think that...", "My guess is that..." It got to the point where I felt I was reading sheer fantasy - I skipped these profiles after reading a good number of them. In addition there was a creepy factor involved too: in some cases Krauss Googled her subjects to get more information to infer what she could and tie her loose ends. Although this information is accessible, it seemed to me like an invasion of privacy (and did I mention creepy?)

Finally, Krauss' advice on how to get on the "right" pathway is trite and falls flat. There is no "secret to long-term happiness" in this book. For example, if your life has sucked up to now, hey, reframe it and think differently about it. How revolutionary! Don't feel you're going to leave a legacy and feel bummed about that? Create a killer recipe that will be handed down from generation to generation. Stuck on the Straight and Narrow path? You don't need to do anything major to get free - do something simple like ditch "that navy-blue blazer" or let "your hair perm grow out". Armed with this revolutionary know-how I am now on the straight and narrow path back to the library, grateful that I borrowed instead of bought this book.

This is possibly one the most dissapointing psychological "self-help" books I've read. It is little more than a compilation of dull narratives about "life-pathways" based on a small sample of study participants and it speaks volumes about the biases of the author much more than it does about realities of the human search for fulfillment.

Trying to give the book its fair chance I read it twice, attempting to extrapolate the core messages from it. So let me save you the trouble and paraphrase the authors key suggestions:

1) Conduct a life review... look back on your past and figure out why you're not currently doing what you aspired to do when you were younger.

2) Try to realign your life circumstances, job, and relationships with your core values as revealed by the 'life review' to find your 'authentic self'.

3) Figure out (somehow) how to believe you are leaving a legacy for future generations.

That's about it... seriously. Certainly there's lots of repetitive rehashings of former psychological theories but the author never quite manages to create either an interesting historical perspective nor a compelling argument as to how or why her suggestions would work any better than any other "how to be happy" book on the shelf. Save your money. I would recommend some of Pema Chodron's books instead - while a little "new-agey", they offer much deeper insights into the nature of lasting fulfillment than this book does.

For fans of the 7-Up series, a new generation and their life choices are now explored through the prism of Erikson's personality theories. This compelling book captures the progression of the Baby Boomer generation over three decades. Whitbourne portrays the life choices made by a group of individuals participating in an ongoing, longitudinal research study, and shows how these decisions, combined with personality factors, influenced their life progression. Whitbourne's description of life pathways helped to bring my own life into focus. I believe that the fascinating set of case-studies will resonate with older and younger readers alike, but will also bring hope--that it is never too late to change paths and find fulfillment.

As a university student about to embark on my life's journey, I appreciate the insight that Whitbourne's "Search for Fulfillment" has given me. Like most soon-to-be-graduates, I'm in a transition period in my life, and some of the ideas in this book have helped me to develop a new perspective on the decisions that I'm making. This book has encouraged me to think much further ahead in life--well beyond the normal early-20-something anxieties of "what types of jobs should I apply for" or "what grad school programs will make me the most successful?" Instead, I'm thinking about the more distant future, imagining, in forty years, what I'll think of my life's path and what types of long-term effects these imminent decisions might have.

This well-written book begins by describing some of the theory behind development and aging and the ongoing study which Whitbourne has used to develop her findings. The book then segues into a questionnaire you can use to assess which pathway you're on. While the questionnaire might not be applicable for all readers (namely the younger ones), the lessons on the different pathways--the bulk of the rest of the book--are. Whitbourne explains each of the five pathways she's developed, with examples from her research, and ways that you, the reader, can get off of some of the more negative paths and get, or stay, on some of the more positive paths.

This book will be incredibly beneficial and enlightening for a whole range of people--it's certainly appropriate for people like me who are really just starting off; for those in a period of transition; for parents (this is a book I'll certainly be sharing with my parents!); and for individuals who have gained enough experience in life both to look back and recognize the path that their lives have taken and to look forward and see the way they'd like their lives to go. The take-home lessons are simple, but vitally important: First, no matter where you are in life, you can make changes to make your life more fulfilling. Second, the happiest people weren't necessarily those who had accumulated the most money, but instead had pursued fulfilling activities and professions. Overall: highly recommended.

This book is honest and sharp. Whitbourne's engaging voice brings her extensive empirical data to life--and it is data on something that seems so effervescent--"happiness." Like most people, I have struggled to deal with the aging of my loved ones and myself. I was fascinated and startled by Whitbourne's delineation of the "pathways" on which we find ourselves and inspired by her discussion of our agency within aging. This work is hopeful, grounded, and revolutionary.

This book is a series of psychological fictional stories that are suppose to represent real people. These stories are meant to represent how these individuals change over a forty year time span in relation to their scores on a psychological survey for extra credit when they were freshmen in college. There is a simple test to help the reader to determine which of five life pathways a person is on. These five pathways were developed by the author from follow-up questionnaires of these individuals. There is no subjective data to support the author's conclusions. There is no "Secret" in this book - just hype.

Stereotype No. 1 is the biggest from a secularist perspective ... the idea that we're on earth "for a purpose." Knock out that prop, and the angle of this book would have to change a lot.

Second, Ericksonian thought is just one school of psychology. And, try as the author does, it's hard to reconcile it with something like Maslow's hierarchy of values/needs. Other than both being humanistic, there's nothing in common. (She would have been better off trying to supplement Erickson with other developmental psychology, like Piaget.)

At the same time, Whitbourne offers hope for the idea that we're not locked into certain temperament, or totally constrained by past decisions. There is hope here. (That said, let's see how it stands up in the current economically wrenching times in the U.S. And, that said, at times, she does seem to put too much of the "fulfillment" emphasis on work, even for those on the "Autonomy" path.)

Finally, as opposed to her 25 sample questions, how long and in-depth was the actual student survey?

Overall, an OK book, but not a whole lot more.

Although the author seems like a nice, well-meaning person with the proper credentials, the contents of this book display a substantial amount of personal bias and subjective interpretation of cherry picked examples to tout the author's seeming political views. The psychologists cited and their concepts/theories should be familiar to most college students or others who have read basic psychology texts or articles. The "Seeking Your Pathway" 25 question quiz (with 5 possible "Pathways" interpretations) is a unique feature and the "Action Plan" for each pathway is worth reading. What permeates and ruins this book is the author's selection of stories and her inclusion of interpretative statements that reflect an overbearing liberal bias. Commentary abounds that praises Clinton and Kennedy (cherry-picked Democrats) while disparaging Hoover and Nixon (cherry picked Republicans); and praises those who (her judgement call)"found fulfillment" by leaving responsible, private sector, lucrative work or housewifery for artistic, volunteer, PUBLIC education, non-profit, or liberal cause work (e.g., strongly hinted Democratic Party endorsed "Health Care Reform" or "Community Reinvestment Subprime Mortgage Work"). Little mention is made of other life factors such as faith/church or nurturing friends that MAY enhance fulfillment across the life cycle. The author seems primarily to attribute those factors SHE favors as the cause of any reported increases in "fulfillment" from her subjects. She obviously is a member of the Baby Boomer generation who feels that the 60's was a wonderful era in U.S. history (many others would disagree). Since Liberals only make up 21% of the U.S. population (in the latest Gallup poll on political philosophy), it seems Ms. Whitbourne purposely, preachily, and/or arrogantly fails to consider the needs and fulfillment realities for the other 79% of Americans. A flawed, though perhaps well-intentioned book.