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Deep Ambition — Sources to Acquire

Working tracking document for primary sources Jason needs to obtain for deep-ambition-book-thesis. These are the research works where the wiki currently relies on summary or reputation rather than direct reading. Getting the primary sources matters for three reasons: (1) the book's credibility will rest on accurate citation, (2) reading the originals will sharpen claims the summaries smooth over, and (3) a careful reviewer will hit the book with the version of the research the primary source actually says — which is often different from the version that circulates.

Organized by priority tier. For each: full citation, why it matters, where to find it, acquisition status.

Status Legend

  • TODO — not yet acquired
  • HAVE — in possession (PDF, book, or verified library access)
  • READ — primary source read with notes in wiki
  • PAPER AVAILABLE — open-access or library-accessible PDF identified, pending download

Default status on all entries below is TODO until updated.

As of 2026-04-16: 7 Tier-1 primary sources now READ and integrated into wiki — all ingested into raw/papers/academic/self-determination-plus/. The SDT + eudaimonia + extrinsic-aspirations core of the Deep Ambition book is now primary-source-grounded. Remaining Tier-1 books (Kegan trilogy, Waldinger/Vaillant, Ryan & Deci 2017) still outstanding.

Tier 1 — Must Have (Core Citations)

These are the works the book's central arguments depend on. Acquisition of the primary source is non-negotiable.

1. Harvard Study of Adult Development

  • Waldinger, R. & Schulz, M. (2023). The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness. Simon & Schuster. Current-director synthesis. Most accessible primary source. Contains WISER model and seven pillars framework. Status: TODO. Acquire: bookstore or audiobook.
  • Vaillant, G. E. (2002). Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life from the Landmark Harvard Study of Adult Development. Little, Brown. The prior-director summary. The "happiness is love" passage is from here. Status: TODO. Acquire: used copy or library.
  • Vaillant, G. E. (2012). Triumphs of Experience: The Men of the Harvard Grant Study. Harvard University Press. The dense academic version with methodological detail. Status: TODO. Acquire: library or new copy.

2. Robert Kegan — Constructive-Developmental Theory

  • Kegan, R. (1994). In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life. Harvard University Press. The demand-capability-gap argument; most directly relevant to Deep Ambition. Status: TODO. Acquire: Amazon/library.
  • Kegan, R. & Lahey, L. L. (2009). Immunity to Change. Harvard Business Review Press. The practitioner protocol. Useful for coaching chapter/appendix. Status: TODO. Acquire: HBR Press.
  • Kegan, R. & Lahey, L. L. (2016). An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization. Harvard Business Review Press. Contains the ~8% statistic and corporate application. Status: TODO. Acquire: HBR Press.
  • Kegan, R. (1982). The Evolving Self. Harvard University Press. Foundational theoretical statement. Status: TODO. Lower priority — more technical; cite only if writing a rigorous theoretical chapter.

3. Ryan & Deci — Self-Determination Theory

  • Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness. Guilford Press. The 756-page comprehensive reference. Own this. Status: TODO. Acquire: Guilford.
  • Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2000). "Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social Development, and Well-Being." American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. The most-cited SDT paper. Contains the canonical Self-Determination Continuum figure (Figure 1, p. 72). Status: READ (2026-04-16). Local: raw/papers/academic/self-determination-plus/ryan2000.pdf. Integrated into self-determination-theory.
  • Niemiec, C. P., Ryan, R. M. & Deci, E. L. (2009). "The path taken: Consequences of attaining intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations in post-college life." Journal of Research in Personality, 43(3), 291–306. The direct test of whether goal achievement matters. The β = .77 intrinsic / β = .00 extrinsic contrast. Mediation via basic-need satisfaction. Status: READ (2026-04-16). Local: raw/papers/academic/self-determination-plus/niemiec2009.pdf. Integrated into self-determination-theory.

4. Kasser & Ryan — Extrinsic Aspirations Research

  • Kasser, T. & Ryan, R. M. (1993). "A Dark Side of the American Dream: Correlates of Financial Success as a Central Life Aspiration." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(2), 410–422. The foundational paper. Three studies; controls for actual income/net worth. Status: READ (2026-04-16). Local: raw/papers/academic/self-determination-plus/kasser1993.pdf. Integrated into eudaimonia-vs-hedonia.
  • Kasser, T. & Ryan, R. M. (1996). "Further Examining the American Dream: Differential Correlates of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Goals." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22(3), 280–287. Daily experience-sampling evidence. Status: READ (2026-04-16). Local: raw/papers/academic/self-determination-plus/kasser1996.pdf. Integrated into eudaimonia-vs-hedonia.
  • Dittmar, H., Bond, R., Hurst, M. & Kasser, T. (2014). "The relationship between materialism and personal well-being: A meta-analysis." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107(6), 879–924. 151 reports, 258 samples, overall r = –.15. Note: the JPSP issue is 107(6), not 107(5) as originally listed. Status: READ (2026-04-16). Local: raw/papers/academic/self-determination-plus/dittmar2014.pdf. Integrated into eudaimonia-vs-hedonia.

5. Carol Ryff — Psychological Well-Being

  • Ryff, C. D. (1989). "Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069–1081. The foundational paper introducing the six dimensions. N = 321, Cronbach's alpha .86–.93 on new scales. Includes the non-linear life-course data (autonomy declines, personal growth rises with age). Status: READ (2026-04-16). Local: raw/papers/academic/self-determination-plus/ryff1989.pdf. Integrated into eudaimonia-vs-hedonia.
  • Ryff, C. D. & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). "The structure of psychological well-being revisited." JPSP, 69(4), 719–727. The formal factor-structure paper. Status: TODO, PAPER AVAILABLE. APA. Still needed for rigorous citation of the six-dimension model; the 1989 paper's factor analysis is less clean than the 1995 revision addresses.

6. Alan Waterman — Eudaimonia Operationalized

  • Waterman, A. S. (1993). "Two conceptions of happiness: Contrasts of personal expressiveness (eudaimonia) and hedonic enjoyment." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(4), 678–691. The paper that converts eudaimonia into measurable "personal expressiveness." Two studies (N = 209, 249); r = .71–.86 between eudaimonia and hedonia; the 16.8% / 35.9% / 6.87% categorization of activities. Status: READ (2026-04-16). Local: raw/papers/academic/self-determination-plus/waterman1993.pdf. Integrated into eudaimonia-vs-hedonia.

Tier 2 — Strongly Supporting (Citation Backbone)

Important secondary citations. The book doesn't fall apart without them, but they strengthen specific chapters significantly.

7. Arthur Brooks — The Striver's Curse

  • Brooks, A. C. (2022). From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life. Portfolio. The closest book-length predecessor. Read this to position Deep Ambition clearly. Status: TODO. Acquire.

8. David Brooks — The Second Mountain

  • Brooks, D. (2019). The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life. Random House. First/second mountain metaphor. Cultural companion to Deep Ambition. Status: TODO. Acquire.

9. Agnes Callard — Aspiration

  • Callard, A. (2018). Aspiration: The Agency of Becoming. Oxford University Press. Philosophical grounding for commitment-first over passion-first. Proleptic reasons. Response to L.A. Paul on transformative experience. The aspiration-vs-ambition distinction is load-bearing for Deep Ambition. Status: IN WIKI (manuscript ingested 2026-04-18 → callard-aspiration).
  • Callard, A. (2021). "Replies." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 102(2), 486–496. Symposium response to Katsafanas, Kraut, Sauvé Meyer, and L.A. Paul. Sharpens proleptic reasons against the most serious objections. Status: IN WIKI (→ callard-replies-to-critics).
  • Callard, A. (2019, Jan 21). "Don't Overthink It." Boston Review. Review of Steven Johnson's Farsighted. Contains the personal-vs-political decision distinction and the crystal-ball test — clean short statement of aspiration's decision-theoretic upshot. Status: IN WIKI (→ callard-on-deliberation).
  • Aviv, R. (2023, March 6). "Agnes Callard's Marriage of the Minds." The New Yorker. Biographical profile. Callard's own transformative value-shift as lived case material. Status: IN WIKI (→ callard-marriage-of-the-minds).

10. Herminia Ibarra — Working Identity

  • Ibarra, H. (2003, updated edition 2023). Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career. Harvard Business Review Press. Empirical evidence that identities emerge from experimentation, not introspection. Status: TODO. Acquire the 2023 edition.

11. William Damon — Purpose

  • Damon, W. (2008). The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling in Life. Free Press. The drifters/dabblers/dreamers/purposeful distinction. The two-part definition of purpose. Status: TODO. Acquire.
  • Damon, W., Menon, J. & Bronk, K. C. (2003). "The development of purpose during adolescence." Applied Developmental Science, 7(3), 119–128. The academic underpinning. Status: TODO, PAPER AVAILABLE. Taylor & Francis.

12. Dan McAdams — Narrative Identity

  • McAdams, D. P. (2006). The Redemptive Self: Stories Americans Live By. Oxford University Press. The cultural-script version for the American context. Status: TODO. Acquire.
  • McAdams, D. P. (1993). The Stories We Live By: Personal Myths and the Making of the Self. William Morrow. The foundational life-story-model book. Status: TODO. Acquire.
  • Wiki already has narrative-identity with McAdams (2008) Handbook chapter. The above are companion primary sources.

13. Viktor Frankl — Man's Search for Meaning

  • Frankl, V. E. (1946/1959/2006). Man's Search for Meaning. Beacon Press (2006 edition with postscript). The three-sources-of-meaning framework. Status: TODO. Probably already own; verify.

14. Hedonic Adaptation

  • Brickman, P., Coates, D. & Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978). "Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative?" JPSP, 36(8), 917–927. The classic. Status: TODO, PAPER AVAILABLE. APA.
  • Lyubomirsky, S. (2011). "Hedonic adaptation to positive and negative experiences." In S. Folkman (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Stress, Health, and Coping. The modern synthesis. Status: TODO. Library or OUP.

15. Patricia Linville — Self-Complexity

  • Linville, P. W. (1987). "Self-complexity as a cognitive buffer against stress-related illness and depression." JPSP, 52(4), 663–676. The breadth-amplifies empirical argument. Status: TODO, PAPER AVAILABLE. APA.

16. Stevan Hobfoll — Conservation of Resources

  • Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). "Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress." American Psychologist, 44(3), 513–524. The COR theory foundational paper. Status: TODO, PAPER AVAILABLE. APA.

17. Ruth Chang — Hard Choices

  • Chang, R. (2014). "How to make hard choices." TED Talk. The accessible version, useful for narrative. Status: LIKELY HAVE (TED talks are easy to access).
  • Chang, R. (2017). "Hard choices." Journal of the American Philosophical Association, 3(1), 1–21. The academic version. Status: TODO, PAPER AVAILABLE. Cambridge.

18. Hal Hershfield — Future Self

  • Hershfield, H. E. (2023). Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today. Little, Brown Spark. The popular synthesis. Status: TODO. Acquire.
  • Hershfield, H. E. et al. (2011). "Increasing saving behavior through age-progressed renderings of the future self." Journal of Marketing Research, 48, S23–S37. The canonical empirical paper. Status: TODO, PAPER AVAILABLE. SAGE.

19. Ken Sheldon — Self-Concordance

  • Sheldon, K. M. & Elliot, A. J. (1999). "Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The self-concordance model." JPSP, 76(3), 482–497. The canonical self-concordance paper. Status: TODO, PAPER AVAILABLE. APA.

20. Carol Dweck — Passion Developed, Not Found

  • O'Keefe, P. A., Dweck, C. S. & Walton, G. M. (2018). "Implicit theories of interest: Finding your passion or developing it?" Psychological Science, 29(10), 1653–1664. Direct empirical support for the commitment-first frame. Status: TODO, PAPER AVAILABLE. SAGE.

21. Adaptive Preferences — the "Treading Water" chapter literature

Technical philosophical vocabulary for the letting-go-vs-giving-up problem. Three papers now in the wiki (see adaptive-preferences hub). Remaining primary sources below.

  • Elster, J. (1983). Sour Grapes: Studies in the Subversion of Rationality. Cambridge University Press. The canonical setup of the SG/CP distinction. Status: TODO. Secondary engagement in bovens-adaptive-preferences, baber-adaptive-preferences, mitchell-adapted-vs-adaptive-preferences; primary text still to acquire.
  • Nussbaum, M. C. (2000). Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach. Cambridge University Press. Jayamma / Vasanti / adaptive-preference case studies that Baber contests. Status: TODO.
  • Nussbaum, M. C. (2001). "Adaptive preferences and women's options." Economics and Philosophy, 17(1), 67–88. The paper Baber is in direct dialogue with. Status: TODO, PAPER AVAILABLE. Cambridge.
  • Khader, S. J. (2011). Adaptive Preferences and Women's Empowerment. Oxford University Press. The perfectionist account that Mitchell engages. Status: TODO.
  • Barnes, E. (2016). The Minority Body: A Theory of Disability. Oxford University Press. Testimonial-injustice argument Mitchell leans on heavily. Status: TODO.
  • Sen, A. (1977). "Rational fools: A critique of the behavioral foundations of economic theory." Philosophy and Public Affairs, 6(4), 317–344. Sen's commitment-vs-preference distinction, cited approvingly by Baber. Status: TODO, PAPER AVAILABLE. JSTOR.
  • Hirschman, A. O. (1970). Exit, Voice, and Loyalty. Harvard University Press. The leaving-well vocabulary that complements the adaptive-preferences literature. Status: TODO.

Papers now in wiki (ingested 2026-04-18):

Tier 3 — Enrichment

Nice-to-have sources that would strengthen specific moments in the book but aren't essential.

  • MacIntyre, A. (1981/2007). After Virtue. Internal vs. external goods of practices. For the Part III cultural-stakes argument. Status: TODO.
  • Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow. The canonical flow book. Already cited commonly; verify the primary source. Status: TODO.
  • Kashdan, T. B. & Biswas-Diener, R. (2014). The Upside of Your Dark Side. Psychological flexibility. Status: TODO.
  • Kaufman, S. B. (2020). Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization. Updated Maslow. Status: TODO.
  • Puett, M. & Gross-Loh, C. (2016). The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life. Non-Western depth for ambition-as-cultivation. Status: TODO.
  • Newport, C. (2012). So Good They Can't Ignore You. Direct rebuttal to "follow your passion." Title-adjacent to Deep Ambition. Status: TODO.
  • Zimbardo, P. & Boyd, J. (2008). The Time Paradox. Balanced time perspective. Status: TODO.
  • Carstensen, L. L. (2006). "The influence of a sense of time on human development." Science, 312(5782), 1913–1915. Socioemotional selectivity theory. Status: TODO, PAPER AVAILABLE.
  • Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and Crisis. For the Erikson → Kegan lineage. Status: TODO.
  • Epstein, D. (2019). Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. For the breadth-vs-depth nuance. Status: TODO.
  • Credé, M., Tynan, M. C. & Harms, P. D. (2017). "Much ado about grit: A meta-analytic synthesis of the grit literature." JPSP, 113(3), 492–511. The grit walk-back. Critical to honest citation. Status: TODO, PAPER AVAILABLE.
  • Mogi, K. (2017). Awakening Your Ikigai: How the Japanese Wake Up to Joy and Purpose Every Day. The real Japanese concept, not the Western meme. Status: TODO.
  • Mathews, G. (1996). What Makes Life Worth Living? How Japanese and Americans Make Sense of Their Worlds. University of California Press. Anthropological treatment of ikigai. Status: TODO.

Acquisition Plan

Fastest path:

  1. Bulk-buy the Tier 1 books via Amazon/HBR Press/Guilford — about 8 books, ~$200–$300 total
  2. Download Tier 1 papers via Google Scholar + APA/SAGE/Elsevier in one afternoon — all open or library-accessible
  3. Add Tier 2 books to library hold list or order as Tier 1 reading progresses
  4. Set up a reading queue — one Tier 1 book per 2–3 weeks with notes written straight into wiki articles as you read

Library access levers:

  • Stanford alumni library access — covers nearly all JSTOR, APA, SAGE, Elsevier
  • NYC Public Library digital access via library card
  • ResearchGate for most psychology papers (authors often post their own preprints)
  • Google Scholar for open-access PDFs

Reading-as-ingestion workflow:

Each primary source read should produce:

  1. Notes directly into the relevant wiki article (replacing summary with direct quote + citation)
  2. An entry in log.md under the date read
  3. Update to this page's status for that entry
  4. Consideration of whether the primary source changes the argument in deep-ambition-book-thesis
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