College and Radcliffe students are just as happy as people who grew up in the comparatively peaceful days of the early twentieth century, Pitirim A. Sorokin, professor of Sociology, writes in the November issue of American Magazine.
What really matters in happiness is a good home life, Sorokin asserts. This thesis parellels that of Sheldon Glueck, professor of Criminology, and his wife, which states that environment is not so important in making children delinquent as a poor family life.
Other factors in the life of contented students were good health and congenial playmates. Sorokin contends, "The absence of these two (loving family and playmates) cannot be compensated for by wealth . . . or any of the material values. If they are present, even the children of a poor family, living in a slum district, can be happy."
Sorokin reached these conclusions after studying case histories of 547 College men and Annex girls. He has been working for two years on a study of human altruism on a grant from the Libby Endowment of $20,000 a year.
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