|
|
|||||
|
|||||
| Path: Main Street > Resources/Library > Research Articles > Feature Article |
Does happiness lead to success?
By Louisa Jewell, WhyDidYouGo.com
September 14, 2009
In the past, researchers have found it difficult to determine if happiness leads to success. The problem was they couldn't quite tell if people were happy because they were successful or if happiness also made them successful. Luckily for us, some top researchers have been able to show that there is, indeed, evidence that happiness leads to success.
First of all, it has been shown that positive emotions broaden our thoughts and allow for greater creativity. One study analyzed individuals from seven companies in varying industries including high technology and consumer products. Employees scoring the highest on well-being tests and those with the most positive words in their diaries were rated as highly creative by their teams. On their happiest days, workers were found to be the most creative. Another interesting study showed that inducing positive emotions enhances the ability of workers to make note of more information, make more complex interpretations, and achieve higher levels of creativity and productivity. All of this leads to higher levels of performance.
Positive emotions can also be contagious. Experimental studies have shown that one person's positive expression of emotion can induce positive emotions in people with whom the person interacts. This means that positive people can improve the mood of their entire team and also allow for better interactions with customers. One study demonstrated that salespeople who experience more positive emotion on the job are more helpful to their customers. There is evidence that happier bosses can also be more successful, as one study showed that a leader's positive emotions can predict the performance of the entire work team.
Happier people also get noticed more. Well-being has been linked to higher levels of individual work performance including improved self-confidence and leadership, warmth, sociability, more friends and higher supervisor ratings. This suggests that positivity on the job leads to better performance reviews. In a two-year longitudinal study published in the Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, it was found that while there was no clear correlation between job satisfaction and productivity, well-being did predict job performance. Happy people are also more likely to have higher incomes, with one study reporting cheerful people made, on average, 30% more than their less cheerful colleagues. There's one good reason to be happy at work that you can take to the bank.
It's important to note that positive emotions give us energy to persist in the face of challenge. Barbara Fredrickson, a leading researcher in positive psychology, has shown that positive emotions also help "undo" the effects of negative emotions. Thus, when bad things happen at work - and even in the best environments bad things eventually happen - positive emotions can help us bounce back from adversity, allowing us to focus on our work once more. This kind of resiliency at work contributes not only to our career success, but to our overall well-being. When we can recover at work quickly, we can also be more available to our loved ones when we get home. This means more loving relationships outside of work, which makes us happier...and, well, you can see where I am going with this. It's all an upward spiral.
Louisa Jewell is a co-founder of www.WhyDidYouGo.com, a consulting and coaching firm specializing in employee engagement and retention. Her vision is to improve happiness at work, one workplace at a time. For more information about positive management practices in the workplace contact Louisa at louisa@whydidyougo.com.
|
|||
