In 1937, a researcher at Harvard University began a study (originally named The Harvard Study of Adult Development) on what factors contribute to human well-being and happiness. The research team selected 268 male Harvard students who seemed healthy and well adjusted to be part of what is called a longitudinal study, which means that the researchers would study the lives of these men not just at one ...

In 2008, 5 million people participated in addiction programs because of alcohol or drug abuse. Participants by age:

• 12–17 years old: 5 percent
  
  
• 18–25: 15 percent
  
  
• 26–49: 57 percent
  
  
• 50 and over: 23 percent
  
  

How Americans manage stress:

• Listen to music: 52 percent
• Exercise or walk: 47 percent
• Read: 44 percent
• Spend time with friends or family: 41 percent
• Watch TV or movies two or more hours a day: 41 percent
• Nap: 38 percent
• Play video games or surf the Internet: 37 percent
• Pray: 37 percent
• Eat: 34 percent
• Hobby: 30 percent
• Church or religious services: 21 percent
• Drink alcohol: 18 percent
• Shop: 18 percent
• Smoke: 16 percent

In her book Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit, author and speaker Beth Moore recalls a particularly insightful moment in her life:

I will never forget watching an evening talk show featuring the story of the parents and killer of a young college student. The killer was his best friend. The weapon was high alcohol content inside a speeding automobile. …

What made this ...

A 2008 survey by The Barna Group asked adults which, if any, of eight behaviors with moral overtones they had engaged in during the past week. The behaviors included looking at pornography, using profanity, gambling, gossiping, engaging in sexual intercourse with someone to whom they were not married, retaliating against someone, getting drunk, and lying. Of those surveyed:

• Twenty-eight percent had used profanity.
  
  

In 2005, researchers at Dartmouth Medical School set up a pretend grocery store in order to learn more about how children view alcohol and other restricted products. They sent 120 kids, ages 2 to 6, through the aisles and instructed them to get ready for a grown-up party where Ken and Barbie would be the hosts.

According to the results, 28 percent of the children purchased cigarettes. "I need this ...

With many discussing the possibility of a recession in 2008 and beyond, where are the people likely to turn for help? "When storm clouds gather over the economy, people often seek shelter in a glass of whiskey, a pack of cigarettes, or the green blaze of a roulette table," says Thomas M. Anderson in Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. "That's why many financial advisors are telling clients to invest ...

In 1972, a young Egyptian businessman named Farahat lost an $11,000 watch. He was stunned when a garbage man dressed in filthy rags found it and returned it to him. Farahat asked him why he didn't just keep the watch. The garbage man said, "My Christ told me to be honest until death." Farahat later told a reporter: "I didn't know Christ at the time, but I told [the garbage man] that I saw Christ in ...

Researcher Mark Bellis of Liverpool John Moores University in Liverpool, England, collected statistics concerning 1,064 rock stars from the United States and Europe between the 1950s and the present. His conclusions suggest that, statistically, rock stars really do die younger than the general population. The average age at death for American rockers was 42; for Europeans, 35.

Partying, transportation ...

The United States doesn't always come in first place. UNICEF surveyed 21 of the most developed nations and measured how kids related to other kids, spent time with parents, used alcohol and/or drugs, and perceived their own happiness. Tight-knit nations—like Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Finland—ranked the highest when it came to young people feeling secure and happy. The U.S. ...