Happiness is the key to success

Happiness is the key to success
*Asian News International *Washington, December 20, 2005

'Success is the key to happiness' is a commonly believed notion; but if
a new research is to be believed, it is happiness that makes people
successful, and not vice-versa.

In the study, publishe! d in American Psychological Association's
Psychological Bulletin, the researchers state that happy individuals
are predisposed to seek out and undertake new goals in life, and this
reinforces positive emotions.

Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California and colleagues
examined the connections between desirable characteristics, life
successes and well-being of over 275,000 people, and found that
chronically happy people are in general more successful across many life
domains than less happy people.

"Happy people are more likely to achieve favorable life circumstances,
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," said said Dr. Lyubomirsky.

The researchers 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.
They 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 succes! sful 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. But the new study
found that this isn't always true. Positive affect is one attribute
among several that can le! ad 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, 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,"
said Lyubomirsky