"Statistical voyeurism": a peep at the class of '58

"Doctors keep their weight down by working their buns off; lawyers are less conservative politically and most faithful in marriage or so they claim; managers are the most pleased with life and most optimistic about the hereafter; and bankers aren't like everybody else they work less but they earn more."

These are but a few of the conclusions drawn from a survey developed by the class of 1958 to commemorate its 25th reunion. The results, including the statement above, were published in the class's reunion yearbook, edited by class- mate Bill Hartley. Another 'sBer Bruce Carlson coordinated the questionnaire part of the yearbook, which was designed to discern the similarities and differences in achievements and lifestyles of the group of young men "bred on the Hanover Plain and let loose on the world'' 25 years ago. Reunion classes often pre- sent such surveys as a sort of window on their generation, the better to view themselves ob- jectively and to let preceding and succeeding classes share the revelations as well. This par- ticular questionnaire was originally developed by Y ales class of '55 reunion committee and modified by Dartmouth 's6ers. Carlson, eight classmates, and their wives modified it further to suit the class of 1958. "We made it more fun and less probing, less philosophical. We were more interested in hot tubs than in homosex- uality. Carlson said.

Some 400 classmates (of about 700) and a little over 300 wives returned the question- naires, postmarked from all over North Amer- >ca, South America, Europe, and Asia. Carlson constructed from the results a biographical SKEICII or the statistical class member. ("How can we speak of the average '58," he explained. "No Dartmouth alumnus could be merely aver- age.") "After graduation," the chances are a random '5B would report, Carlson said, "I earned an advanced degree in business (or law or medicine).. . . 1 work about 50 hours a week. I consider myself successful and I'm very satisfied with my career. . . . I've been happily married to my first and only wife for 20 years. She's three years younger, has a bachelor's degree, _ works part-time. We have three children and our oldest son now attends Dartmouth. The family annual income is about $ 100,000. . . . Physically, I've never felt better, even though the hair is getting a bit thin. I exercise regular- ly, keep my weight under control, and stopped smoking. ... I vote Republican most of the time. ... I'm not too sure about life after death."

Most 'sBs and their wives consider their mar- riages happy ones. Seventy-two per cent of the men would remarry their current wives if they had the chance to do it over. Happily, 76 per cent of the wives feel the same way. Strongly contributing to the sense of marital concord are a marked view of the marriage as a partnership, fairly apportioned house care, respect for the wives' work outside the home, and joint re- sponsibility for finances. (Though one wife's view of that was: "He earns it, I spend it.")

Most are happy in their work as well. A few workaholics fear they don't spend enough time with their families; these probably help make up the 24 per cent who optimistically plan never to retire.

Leisure time is spent primarily on suburban tennis courts, reading, or traveling, all of which contribute to a whopping 57 per cent never having felt better.

Every class, naturally, has its exceptions, its mavericks, its anomalies. The atypical member of the class of 1958 is likely to dislike coeduca- tion and Ronald Reagan; to have run for public office; to have traveled to Australia; to own a motorcycle; to wear a hairpiece; and to have fewer than two or more than five children and to hope that none of them attend Dartmouth.

The survey was not entirely G-rated and in- cluded some questions about extramarital af- fairs and drug use. The personal nature of some queries prompted one classmate to complain of "an invasion of privacy." Carlson also admits, as some respondents pointed out, that the sur- vey has a "kind of male chauvinistic slant." He believes this is reasonable for his graduation era. "We were heavily into the double stan- dard." He'd like to see future classes ask some of the same questions, tracing the effect of co- education on many of these attitudes.

One unique feature of this particular survey was the processing of the results by computer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. This allowed correlation studies, such as the career satisfac- tion difference among bankers, lawyers, doc- tors, and managers, and uncovered such signifi- cant sociological data as the positive effect of hot tubs on marital success.

Carlson is pleased with the results of this exercise in "statistical voyeurism." "We didn't intend it to be a serious sociological study." The answers to the questions were often pro- vocative, entertaining, and informative probably not unlike the class of '5B itself.