Adaptation to Life (Paperback)

by George E. Vaillant (Author)
Key Phrases: immature mechanisms, immature defenses, career consolidation, Grant Study, World War, Alan Poe (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Between 1939 and 1942, one of America's leading universities recruited 268 of its healthiest and most promising undergraduates to participate in a revolutionary new study of the human life cycle. The originators of the program, which came to be known as the Grant Study, felt that medical research was too heavily weighted in the direction of disease, and their intent was to chart the ways in which a group of promising individuals coped with their lives over the course of many years.

Nearly forty years later, George E. Vaillant, director of the Study, took the measure of the Grant Study men. The result was the compelling, provocative classic, Adaptation to Life, which poses fundamental questions about the individual differences in confronting life's stresses. Why do some of us cope so well with the portion life offers us, while others, who have had similar advantages (or disadvantages), cope badly or not at all? Are there ways we can effectively alter those patterns of behavior that make us unhappy, unhealthy, and unwise?

George Vaillant discusses these and other questions in terms of a clearly defined scheme of "adaptive mechanisms" that are rated mature, neurotic, immature, or psychotic, and illustrates, with case histories, each method of coping.

About the Author
George E. Vaillant is Professor of Psychiatry, ; Director of the Study of Adult Development, Harvard University Health Services; and Director of Research in the Division of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (August 11, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674004140
• ISBN-13: 978-0674004146
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #41,125 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #85 in

  Books > Health, Mind & Body > Psychology & Counseling > Developmental Psychology

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adaptation to Life, November 23, 2000

By A Customer

I've read ''Adaptation to Life'' several times over the past decade, and I'm not a mental health professional. It's extremely interesting to anyone who wants to learn more about the ego mechanisms of defense, yet is markedly different from the usual self-help tome authored by a psychiatrist or a social worker based on findings from his/her practice. Why? ''Adaptation to Life'' is based on the findings of a study of actual human beings from the time they graduated from college through late adult life (60 years old or so). That long-term view helps to illustrate that what might be construed as good adjustment to life in one's twenties might be less useful when one is over 50. Its main theme, that rather than being absolute and unchanging, mental health develops and matures over a lifetime, is reassuring. I've found the book useful as a ''guide,'' of sorts, to return to again and again as I grow older. The only shortcoming to ''Adaptation to Life'' is that the study did not include women. I'm curious as to whether the development and maturation of ego mechanisms of defense might be different for women than for men. But to dismiss this well-written book entirely for that reason alone would be a mistake; after all, many of the hurdles that must be addressed in the course of human development are the same for males and females. The final plus is that ``Adaptation to Life'' is fairly free of medical jargon and therefore an easy read for non-clinicians.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book changed my life, October 2, 2005

By	Scott716 "Scott716" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This book is amazing. It provides concrete examples based on a wonderful study of a group of Harvard graduates of how different psychological coping methods helped people succeed or fail during their lives.

Its most important finding, in my view, is that peoples circumstances in life play no role in their eventual success or failure. Instead, it is the coping methods that people develop, and the positive effort they put in, that decide their outcomes and happiness.

Most chapters contrast 2 real people from the Harvard study, identifying the opposing psychological methods each used (i.e. one is a procrastinator and another gets things done) and shows how their lives played out. Their behaviors correlated directly with their happiness and success in life. The procrastinator wandered from one job to the next, did not have satisfactory relationships, and did not build wealth. The person who got things done succeeded in business and in personal life.

This book identifies the key mental characteristics necessary to adapt to life, using concrete examples based on a long-term study. It provides a positive message that the circumstances of these subjects birth and background did not matter nearly as much as how much effort they put into life. It is well worth reading.

On the other hand, it is worth noting that these graduates were predominantly white, at least middle-class, often Protestant, and were part of the "greatest generation" that as WWII veterans worked during a time when the US economy was booming.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adaptation to Life, February 6, 2007

By	Gardner P. Dunnan (New York City) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I purchase copies of this book by the dozen, as I frequently hand it out to friends and associates of all ages. Personally, I have read it at least three times since it first appeared, and I refer to it often.

The book is organized in alternating chapters of theory and case studies. The theoretical chapters are dense, but fascinating, and make a compelling case for the developmental sequence of what Vailliant calls "defenses" - i.e. adaptive mechanisms. The case studies are fascinating and often humorous, and make this an easy book to pick up and read over a period of time. Often I give the book to people who are unhappy with some circumstance in their life or in the lives of their children, stating that the message of the title is that there is no perfect passage through this life - we all face disappointments and setbacks. Therefore, our goal for ourselves and our loved ones should not be a flawless existence, but rather an increasingly mature adaptation to the inevitable setbacks.

Too many of the books on adulthood are depressing formulations of how everything falls apart after age 30. Who wants to believe that? Vailliant is much more encouraging, in that his thesis is that our 50's can be better than our 40's, our 40's better than our 30's. Sounds good to me (and in his follow up book "Aging Well" Vailliant takes the same cohort into their 80's, which can similarly be a time of growth and development.)