Mountain Path Olivier Follmi

Does Success Make People Happy or Does Happiness Itself Lead to Success?

Personal and professional success may lead to happiness but could it be that happiness also engenders success? Happy individuals are predisposed to seek out and undertake new goals in life and this reinforces positive emotions. This has been confirmed through a study of the connections between desirable characteristics, life successes and well-being. Over 275,000 people were included in this research.

From a review of 225 studies in the Psychological Bulletin, published by the American Psychological Association (APA), lead author Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., of the University of California, Riverside found that chronically happy people are in general more successful across many life domains than less happy people. Furthermore, their happiness is in large part a consequence of their positive emotions rather than vice versa.

"Happy people are more likely to achieve favorable life circumstances," said Dr. Lyubomirsky, and "this may be because happy people frequently experience positive moods and these positive moods prompt them to be more likely to work actively toward new goals and build new resources. When people feel happy, they tend to feel confident, optimistic, and energetic and others find them likable and sociable. Happy people are thus able to benefit from these perceptions."

Lyubomirsky and co-authors Laura King, Ph.D., of University of Missouri, Columbia and Ed Diener, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and The Gallup Organization examined studies involving three different types of evidence - cross-sectional, longitudinal and experimental designs – to determine how happiness and positive affect are related to culturally-valued success.

The authors chose to use these different types of evidence to bolster their confidence in establishing cause-and-effect relationships among happiness, positive affect, and success.

Cross-sectional studies compare different groups of people and answer questions like,
    "Are happy people more successful than unhappy people?" and
    "Does long-term happiness and short term positive affect co-occur with desirable behaviors?"

Longitudinal studies examine groups of people over a period of time and address questions like,
    "Does happiness precede success?" and
    "Does positive affect pave the way for success-like behaviors?"

Finally, experimental studies manipulate variables to test whether an outcome will occur under controlled conditions and answer questions like,
    "Does positive affect lead to success-oriented behaviors?"

The results of all three types of studies suggests that happiness does lead to behaviors that often produce further success in work, relationships and health, and these successes result in part from a person’s positive affect. Furthermore, evidence from the cross-sectional studies confirm that a person’s well-being is associated with positive perceptions of self and others, sociability, creativity, prosocial behavior, a strong immune system, and effective coping skills. The authors also note that happy people are capable of experiencing sadness and negative emotions in response to negative events, which is a healthy and appropriate response.

Much of the previous research on happiness presupposed that happiness followed from success and accomplishments in life, said the authors. "We found that this isn’t always true. Positive affect is one attribute among several that can lead to success-oriented behaviors. Other resources, such as intelligence, family, expertise and physical fitness, can also play a role in people’s successes."

"Our review provides strong support that happiness, in many cases, leads to successful outcomes, rather than merely following from them," said Lyubomirsky, "and happy individuals are more likely than their less happy peers to have fulfilling marriages and relationships, high incomes, superior work performance, community involvement, robust health and even a long life."

Article: "The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success?," Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., University of California, Riverside; Laura King, Ph.D., University of Missouri, Columbia and Ed Diener, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and The Gallup Organization; Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 131, No. 6.

Full text of the article is available from the APA Public Affairs Office or at http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/bul1316803.pdf.

---

The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 150,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 53 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting human welfare.

###

---

Send this page to a friend.
Enter recipient's e-mail address:

---

Copyright © 1995 - 2008 Regina Pickett Garson
All writings, graphics and scripts on this site are copyright by the individual authors, artists and developers. Nothing on this site may be reproduced without permission of the individual authors.

No claims are made as to the reliability of any of the information provided or linked, sources often disagree. None of these pages are meant to be a replacement for professional help, but a resource that enables one to be a more intelligent consumer. You can learn a lot by becoming aware of different opinions. Do not be afraid to ask questions when it comes to your health, whether it be physical, mental or emotional.

Send a
Free E-Card

---

Search
Magic Stream

---

About Site
Addictions
Aging
Archive
Art
Autism
Awards
Blog
Books
Child Abuse
Children
Contributors
Contact
Cults
Death & Grief
Depression
Diet
Disabilities
Disaster
Dissociation
Divorce
Domestic Violence
Dreams
Eating Disorders
Fairy Tale
Family
Fitness
Food
Free E-cards
Gallery
Gender Issues
Gifts
Holidays
Homeless
Jobs
Learning Disabilities
Medical Reference
Medications
Memberships
Memory
Men's Issues
OCD
Panic & Anxiety
Personal Growth
Personality Tests
Poetry
Psychology
Recovery
Reference
Relationships
Relaxation
Schizophrenia
Self Defense
Self Esteem
Self Help
Sexual Abuse
Site Map
Sleep
Spa
Speaker
Spirituality
Stress
Submissions
Suicide
Support Services
Support Site
Teachers
Teens
Therapy
Tourette's
Trauma
Violence
Women

---

---

---