Be happy. Don't worry. Take this as your life's mantra and you'll most likely make more money, get better annual reviews and be in line for coveted promotions.
A study from the University of Missouri-Columbia concludes that being happy and having a positive attitude breeds workplace success. In a way, it's the opposite of what we typically hear: People who are successful are happy. Turns out, being happy may be the key to success. In other words, the relationship between happiness and success is mutual in that existing happiness and positive attitudes can help breed success.
And it's not just in the workplace. Happy people--that is, those who frequently experience positive emotions--tend to be more successful and accomplished in many aspects of their lives. The evidence from this research, which examined papers on happiness that cover 293 samples and 275,000 people, also shows that happier workers have higher incomes, according to lead study author Laura King, a professor of psychological sciences. Other life and work advantages happy people enjoy:
More likely to secure job interviews.
More likely to be evaluated positively by their supervisors.
Less likely to show signs of burnout.
More likely to have jobs with autonomy, variety and meaning.
More likely to have higher incomes.
More likely to be successful in social relationships.
More likely to have more close friends and greater satisfaction with those friendships.
Who is happy and who is not? Not surprisingly, feelings of loneliness and not having any friends are strong predictors of unhappiness, especially in older people. In addition, married people are happier than those who are single, divorced or widowed. Happiness in marriage is closely tied to being happy in general.
The study findings were published in the journal Psychological Bulletin.
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