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| :: Happiness breeds success? :: |
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Are you happy? If you are, you may be more likely to succeed.
New research shows that personal and professional success may lead to happiness - but the reverse also can be true.
Drawing on 225 studies that involved more than 275,000 participants, researchers examined the connections among desirable characteristics, life successes and well-being. They found that chronically happy people are generally more successful across many life domains than less happy people.
Happy people are more likely to achieve favorable life circumstances, says Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., of the University of California, Riverside.
"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 the University of Missouri, Columbia, and Ed Diener, Ph.D., of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and The Gallup Organization, report their findings in the current issue of Psychological Bulletin, published by the American Psychological Association.
The researchers found that a person's well-being is associated with positive perceptions of self and others, sociability, creativity, pro-social behavior, a strong immune system and effective coping skills. They note that happy people are still capable of experiencing negative emotions in response to negative events, which is healthy and appropriate.
Much of the previous research on happiness presupposed that happiness followed from success and accomplishments in life. "We found that this isn't always true," the authors say.
"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," says 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."
Psychiatrist Russ Ricci, a member of myDNA's Medical Advisory Board, says that in a job interview it is much more desirable to meet with a candidate that is cheerful and positive - even when that person is coming off a tough previous job situation.
"It is no fun to work with a grump ... or a chronic whiner," he says. "It makes sense that if you can smile and be happy you are more likely to find yourself in a good job and successful personal situation."
"If you are coming off a sad job loss or relationship and cannot 'be positive,' it may take counseling and anti-depressant medication to achieve a more positive attitude," Ricci says. "It will pay off in both your professional and personal life."
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MyDNA.com |
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